Türkiye will never forget int'l solidarity shown after earthquakes: President

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye will never forget the solidarity displayed by the EU, the UN, and other international organizations after the Feb. 6 earthquakes, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

"We will never forget the solidarity displayed by all our friends, the EU with its institutions, member and candidate countries, by the UN, and other international organizations, in these difficult days," Erdogan said.

Erdogan virtually addressed the opening session of the International Donors’ Conference, organized by the European Commission and the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council to support victims affected by the devastating earthquakes in southern Türkiye.

"This conference is another example of how well-grounded the relations between our peoples are," he said.

On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa – in southern Türkiye, and claimed the lives of at least 50,096 people.

More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.​​​​​​​

Türkiye currently hosts more than 4 million refugees, including 3.5 million Syrians, Erdogan said.

"Today, as we heal the wounds of the century's disaster in our country, we are in solidarity with the Syrian people who were affected by the earthquakes.

"We provide the necessary facilitation for third parties and other countries to transfer humanitarian aid materials by land and air to earthquake victims in Syria. We will continue this attitude in the future," he added.