Baku, 11 February 2023 (TDI): Since February 6 to the present, 7 aircraft and 1 convoy of vehicles have been dispatched from Azerbaijan to Turkiye. The earliest and most substantial response came from Azerbaijan, which sees Turkiye as its closest ally.
Azerbaijan started to give significant aid to help the quake-affected country recover from the disaster as directed by the head of state, President Ilham Aliyev.
On February 6, the first plane transporting 168 Ministry of Emergency Situations officials to the disaster area took off at 1:25 PM, and same date at 5:25 PM, the second plane took off with 233 MES personnel and rescue supplies.
While on February 6, at 8:50 PM, the third aircraft departed for Turkiye with 21 MES personnel and rescue tools. On February 7, the fourth aircraft took off at 9:40 AM with 41 medical workers and four containers for a mobile field hospital.
On February 7, at 2:00 PM, the fifth aircraft took off carrying cargo for the MES workers and three containers for the field hospital. On February 8, at 1:00 AM, the sixth plane took off with four MES employees, food, and humanitarian supplies.
On February 8, the 7th aircraft took off at 9:46 AM carrying 229 MES workers, rescue tools, and provisions for MES personnel.
Likewise, on the same date, at one in the morning, a convoy of 14 vehicles was dispatched to convey to Turkiye 29 people, 4 field kitchens, humanitarian assistance, and supplies for the MES staff.
725 MES professionals have been deployed to Turkiye since the earthquake’s day, including 34 doctors and 7 technical medical staff members.
Humanitarian help has also been sent in the form of manpower, medical professionals, emergency evacuation equipment, generators, pumping stations, automobiles, modular field hospitals, medical supplies, medications, first-aid kits, tents, bedding, & other items.
The Azerbaijani rescue crews reported finding 29 dead bodies and 16 deceased individuals as of February 8 under the debris of collapsed buildings.
Public compassion has also been strong, as seen by the fact that many regular people have organized individual donations to Turkish organizations.
The news of the earthquake and rescue efforts have dominated social networking sites and the media in general.
