Cavusoglu: The European Union has shown serious solidarity at this difficult time. Last Minute EUROPE, CURRENT, TOURISM, TURKEY news headlines and events

Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said the European Union showed strong solidarity with Turkey after the Kahramanmaras earthquake and said 79 citizens were rescued from the rubble by search and rescue teams that arrived in Turkey.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke at a joint press conference following his meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi and Sweden’s Minister for International Development, Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssel.

Referring to the EU’s support after the Kahramanmaras earthquakes, Cavusoglu said: “The European Union has shown serious solidarity at this difficult time.” said.

Thanking the Swedish presidency, EU members, candidate countries and EU institutions for their support, Cavusoglu said that after the earthquake, many EU officials, including Vargei, called him, expressed their condolences and informed about the support they would provide.

Recalling that he had a telephone conversation with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bielström, Cavusoglu said that a minute of silence had been held before the EU meetings and that Janez Lenarcic, member of the EU Commission responsible for crisis management, civil protection and humanitarian assistance, was one of the them. the first high-ranking officials to arrive in the disaster area.

Cavusoglu stated that the EU activated the Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR) to activate the assistance on the first day of the earthquakes, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, of which Turkey is also a member, was activated immediately at the request of Turkey, and thus the EU emergency assistance was immediately delivered to Turkey, stated that he was sent.

Noting that 32 search and rescue teams and 5 medical teams were sent to Turkey under the mechanism, Cavusoglu said: “Thanks to the hard work of 1,750 search and rescuers, 79 of our citizens were rescued from the rubble.” said.

Cavusoglu said that 18 EU member states, including Sweden and Hungary, have sent in-kind assistance to Turkey.

Noting that Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Peter Szijjártó will visit Turkey next week, Cavusoglu said that his Hungarian counterpart will bring the collected aid.

It was agreed that aid should be sustainable, sufficient and flexible.

Cavusoglu said that thanks to EU mechanisms, 50,000 winter tents, more than 100,000 blankets and more than 50,000 heaters were delivered to Turkey, and EU strategic reserves were mobilized.

Noting that in this context, Sweden has provided assistance for the construction of 500 units of temporary housing for 2,500 beds, Cavusoglu said that the EU Commission and its current chairman Sweden have envisaged an international conference in Brussels in support of the victims of the earthquake in Turkey. and Syria.

Stating that they also exchanged views on the conference in question today, Cavusoglu recalled that Turkey, as a candidate country, also benefits from the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) and Pre-Accession Financial Assistance (IPA) tools.

Minister Cavusoglu said: “There have been some cuts in IPA aid before. I would like to say once again that such cuts are useless.” said.

Saying they had discussed channeling appropriate funds to earthquake-affected citizens and infrastructure investments, Cavusoglu said: “Today we agree that such cooperation and assistance should be sustainable, sufficient and flexible. Because we will rebuild many cities.” gave his assessment.

Noting that they will almost build new cities in many cities and areas in the earthquake zone, Cavusoglu thanked the international community for the support it has provided and will continue to provide.

“Now teams from 13 countries are playing on the field”

When asked about the number of search and rescue teams arriving in Turkey from abroad and about assistance, Cavusoglu said: “102 countries have offered assistance in search and rescue work. Detachments from 90 countries arrived. 77 countries have completed their search and rescue operations and returned to their countries.” used phrases.

Cavusoglu said he was pleased that search and rescue teams returning to their countries were warmly welcomed by Turkish citizens living there and Turkish ambassadors.

Stating that more than 11,000 search and rescue workers and search and rescue dogs from abroad have arrived in Turkey, Cavusoglu said that in addition, in-kind assistance was coming from all over the world and that they were working with Turkish missions abroad to bring them to Turkey. . .

Cavusoglu said they were unable to contact Devrim Ozturk, a spokesman for the Hatay foreign ministry, who was trapped under rubble in the Renaissance apartment destroyed by the earthquake in Hatay.

“We have received more than 114 thousand tent commitments”

Noting that the issue of tents is a priority, Cavusoglu said: “We have received more than 114,000 tents. Similarly, the number of tents we have purchased from abroad is about 58,000. We are in contact with many companies, we are working to increase their capacity. More than 90,000 tents have arrived in our country from abroad. They are currently being shipped to our country. The planned number of tents has reached 44,000. used the phrase.

Cavusoglu stated that they want to create container cities in addition to tent cities until buildings are restored in the region, and stated that 495 containers have arrived from abroad so far.

Noting that there are currently about 1,000 containers on the way, especially from Qatar, Cavusoglu said: “We have planned to deliver to Turkey about 10,000 containers that we found abroad.” said.

Recalling that the relevant state authorities encourage and allocate space for the production of containers throughout Turkey, Cavusoglu also recalled that campaigns have been launched in all countries to help those affected by the earthquake.