The Armenian emergency team, which came to Türkiye to provide support to search and rescue efforts following the Feb. 6 earthquakes in the southeast, welcomed the warm treatment they received in the country.
"They treated us very well. They always thanked us for coming and supporting and helping us," Garik Aghramanyan, the team leader, told a news conference in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Monday. The 28-member team, which arrived on Feb. 8, has returned home as rescue operations are coming to a close.
"From the second we got off the plane, we only heard words of gratitude and thanks," he added.
Aghramanyan said his team rescued three people from the rubble in Adıyaman, one of the 11 provinces struck by the quakes that have caused widespread death and destruction.
Other rescuers also spoke on the occasion and described their treatment in quake-hit Türkiye positively.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has described the catastrophe as the biggest disaster in the country's modern history.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in the capital Ankara last week, and reaffirmed the country's will for complete normalization of bilateral relations, a process which is ongoing.
The two countries also opened the Alican border gate for the first time in over three decades to transfer humanitarian aid from Armenia to Türkiye.
The borders between the two countries have been closed for decades, 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.
Türkiye and Armenia have had no diplomatic or commercial ties for three decades, and the talks are the first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord. That deal was never ratified, and connections have remained tense. Following the war over Karabakh in which Turkey supported Azerbaijan against Armenia, Turkish-Armenian relations have entered a new phase, with President Erdoğan saying Türkiye is ready for dialogue with Armenia. Azerbaijan also helps the process.
A pair of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes shook Türkiye's southeast on Monday, destroying thousands of homes and killing at least 41,000 people. Over 65 countries have pledged to help the quake-hit country, including Armenia, Greece, Israel, Egypt and others.
