07 February 2023 16:15

The Republic of Azerbaijan demonstrates solidarity with brotherly Türkiye towards eliminating the consequences of the devastating earthquake that occurred in Kahramanmaraş province and surrounding provinces of the Republic of Türkiye on 6 February 2023.

In order to support search and rescue operations carried out in the earthquake zone, upon the instruction of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev, a rescue team of 420 personnel of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES), together with relevant equipment and search dogs, was dispatched to Türkiye on 6 February and has already started operating.

In addition, in order to eliminate the consequences of the earthquake, the mobile field hospital of the MES, equipped with necessary medical equipment and supplies, and its 41-member team, consisting of 34 medical and 7 non-medical personnel, have already left for Türkiye.

Upon the instruction of President Ilham Aliyev, a group of military medical personnel of the Azerbaijani Army, consisting of 10 military doctors and 8 nurses, is also in the brotherly country today.

Operational Headquarters are operating at the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Türkiye, and at the Consulates General in Istanbul and Kars, in order to identify citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan affected by the earthquake and carry out their evacuation.

Based on citizens’ appeals received through hotlines operating 24 hours and answered by employees, as well as the information obtained, citizens of Azerbaijan residing or temporarily staying in the provinces of Türkiye affected by destruction as a result of the earthquake (Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Adana, Malatya, Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Şanlıurfa, Kilis, Osmaniye, Diyarbakır, Elazığ and Mersin) are being registered. The placement of citizens wishing to be evacuated to Azerbaijan on buses allocated for this purpose is being ensured. In order to ensure that restrictions related to unfavorable weather conditions do not hinder the evacuation process, negotiations are being held with Turkish state bodies towards lifting these restrictions.

Documentation procedures for our citizens whose documents were lost or rendered unusable during the earthquake are being carried out in a simplified manner by our Embassy and Consulates General in Türkiye.

Starting from 15:00 today, evacuation buses will depart for Azerbaijan from the bus stations of Türkiye’s Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, Gaziantep and Adana provinces. At the initial stage, students studying in Türkiye and persons in need of urgent assistance will be evacuated.

Currently, a group of employees of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Türkiye and the Military Attaché Office under the Embassy have been dispatched by land to the earthquake-affected regions in order to ensure the implementation of the evacuation process.

Citizens of Azerbaijan wishing to be evacuated and residing in one of the above-mentioned 10 provinces may contact the numbers +90 536 459 40 35, +90 536 471 55 68, +90 501 031 80 80, +90 552 627 92 94 and +90 532 254 19 33.