An Armenian search and rescue team is still working to save lives in Türkiye’s Adıyaman province amid an ongoing race against time to pull survivors from the rubble following last week’s earthquakes that devastated the country’s south.
Gari Armaganyan, part of the 28-member team, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the special rescue team left for Türkiye a day after the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes struck 10 southeastern cities on Feb. 6.
Armaganyan said they arrived in the country on Feb. 7 at the instruction of the Armenian government upon Türkiye’s call for international assistance.
The team then proceeded to Adıyaman province, which was severely affected by the earthquakes, he said, adding they have continued to search for victims since then.
"The Turkish nation can be sure that in these dark days, the international community, including Armenia, is ready to provide all kinds of support," said Armaganyan, extending his condolences to the people who lost loved ones in the deadly catastrophe.
"I have never seen such an earthquake nor have our team members. Such large-scale destruction has never been witnessed before," he lamented.
The Armenian team is also using sniffer dogs to locate possible survivors.
Garo Paylan, a member of the Turkish Parliament, announced "two more miracles on the seventh day" via Twitter on Sunday.
"In Adıyaman, as a result of the cooperation of Turkish, Armenian and U.S. teams, two more of our girls were rescued alive. Solidarity is saving lives!" Paylan said, sharing a photo and a video while the rescue teams cheered for the survivors.
"Shoulder-to-shoulder with the AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) crew, the Armenian relief team rescued an 8-year-old girl alive in Adıyaman," Paylan tweeted on Saturday.
Border reopens
Saturday also saw the Türkiye-Armenia border reopening for the first time in 30 years to facilitate the passage of humanitarian aid to people affected by the earthquakes.
Five trucks carrying aid from Armenia crossed the border via the Alican checkpoint in eastern Türkiye's Iğdır province.
Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan shared a video showing aid trucks crossing a bridge to arrive in Türkiye.
"Humanitarian aid from #Armenia crossed the Margara bridge on #Armenia-#Turkey border heading to the earthquake-stricken region," Kostanyan said on Twitter.
Serdar Kılıç, Türkiye's special envoy to discuss steps for the normalization of ties with Armenia, thanked Armenia for the aid on Twitter.
"Thank you dear @VahanKostanyan, thank you dear @RubenRubinyan for your kind efforts to make this happen," Kılıç said, referring to the vice president of the Armenian National Assembly.
"I will always remember the generous aid sent by the people of Armenia to help alleviate the sufferings of our people in the earthquake-stricken region in Türkiye."
The Alican border crossing was also used in 1988, when a big earthquake hit Armenia, to send aid collected by the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) to the affected areas.
The borders between the two countries have been closed since 1993 and diplomatic relations have been on hold.
Last year, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said Armenia wants to establish diplomatic relations with Türkiye without any preconditions and officials on both sides agreed to open the land border for third-country citizens visiting both countries as soon as possible, according to a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement at the time.
Türkiye and Armenia also resumed commercial flights as of February 2022 after a two-year hiatus.
The two countries have been divided on a range of issues, including Armenia's occupation of the Karabakh region and the 1915 events during the Ottoman Empire era, and the border between the two neighboring countries has been closed since 1993.