ISTANBUL: Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the earthquake that struck Turkiye, claiming the lives of thousands and leaving many homeless in the blink of an eye.
The Malaysian Specialised Search and Rescue Team (SMART) was among the earliest to arrive in Turkiye to assist in the search and rescue efforts, with the team successfully mobilised within 24 hours.
Malaysia’s humanitarian assistance was warmly welcomed by the people in Turkiye, especially the earthquake victims.
The gesture stood testament to the fact that the good bilateral relations between Malaysia and Turkiye transcends cooperation in trade, commerce, education, and cultural exchanges.
The affected areas have seen remarkable recovery.
Bernama, in Turkiye to see the progress of the recovery efforts, met several earthquake victims at affected areas such as Gaziantep, Malatya, Adiyaman, and Hatay. They expressed gratitude to the Malaysian leadership for working tirelessly to assist and contribute to them in time of need.
Head of Fire and Municipal Police of Metropolitan Gaziantep, Cafer Yilmaz, said he greatly admired Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership, which showed concern for his people by providing contributions and assistance when they were struck by the disaster.
“I know him (Anwar) and follow him through Twitter because he helped Turkiye a lot during last year’s earthquake,” he told Bernama during their visit to an event themed ‘The Activities Carried Out on the First Anniversary of the Earthquake’ from Jan 31 until Feb 5.
Over 60 international media practitioners, including those from Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, and South Korea, participated in the event organised by the Presidency of the Republic of Turkiye Directorate of Communications.
A resident in Hatay, Fatih Demirdoven, 42, said the humanitarian aid provided by several countries including Malaysia has had a significant impact on them in getting back to their routine.
“I am grateful to Allah because we have been helped by foreign countries, like Malaysia, by providing contributions not only in search and rescue operations but also in terms of daily necessities,” he said.
On Feb 6, 2023, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck southern Turkiye and north-western Syria, with effects also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon.
Eleven provinces were affected by the earthquake, namely Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Adiyaman, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Sanlıurfa, Malatya, Diyarbakır, Adana, Kilis, and Elazıg.
