NATO will be sending another batch of tents to house some 4,000 earthquake victims in Türkiye’s devastated southeast, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday.
“We have spoken with NATO to bring in more tents and came to an agreement,” Akar told reporters as he toured a shelter of 2,400 people in the Hatay province, one of the worst-hit cities by the Feb. 6 tremors, together with the Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler.
“NATO continues efforts to set up tent cities in the disaster zone,” he said, informing that the authorities have completed the installation of areas of accommodation and general usage for the disaster victims.
“A tent city has emerged, which our citizens can easily use, be its accommodation or its social areas,” he said, assuring that the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the Defense Ministry and NATO in collaboration, would work to advance.
“We are working to provide shelter while facilitating the necessary environment for citizens to benefit from social opportunities. There are also large tents. In close cooperation and coordination with the Education Minister Mahmut Özer, we will start classes for kindergarteners, and for high school students studying for university, complete with the necessary teacher support,” he said.
The Tuesday following the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 tremors, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center conveyed Türkiye’s requests to all NATO allies, enabling thousands of relief aid and search and rescue teams, including firefighters and medical experts, to be deployed to the disaster zone.
A week later, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg announced in a visit to Türkiye the bloc would set up temporary housing in Hatay and use allied strategic airlift capabilities to transport tens of thousands of tents to Türkiye.
