Over 60 countries sending help to Türkiye after quakes: Erdoğan
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talks to the press during his visit to the southeastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaraş, two days after a strong earthquake struck the region, on Feb. 8, 2023. (AFP Photo)


Over 60 countries are providing assistance to Türkiye following the deadly earthquakes in the country's southeast, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in the Hatay province, which was devastated after Monday's earthquakes, Erdoğan noted that many countries are providing different kinds of assistance to help Türkiye.

"These include Azerbaijan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and more, and they pledge to provide more support," the president said, adding that the countries are sending financial aid and aid in kind.

Azerbaijan happened to be the first country to send assistance after the first earthquake Monday. The country is sending two more planes carrying assistance personnel, materials and a field hospital to Türkiye through Adana, one of the 10 provinces hit by the two powerful earthquakes in the country's south on Monday.

"The plane that will deliver the mobile field hospital and 41 professional medical and non-medical personnel to the brotherly country has left Heydar Aliyev International Airport for Adana," a statement by the Azerbaijani Emergency Situations Ministry said Tuesday.

A statement later said that the second plane departed from Baku carrying tents, blankets and heaters to help those injured in the earthquakes, as well as three containers with a mobile field hospital.

The president also highlighted the importance of solidarity and unity in the aftermath of two massive earthquakes that devastated 10 provinces in Türkiye's southeast, as he pledged to reconstruct the homes of earthquake survivors.

"This is a period of solidarity and unity. As the Turkish state and nation, we will overcome this crisis shoulder to shoulder," Erdoğan told reporters.

Countries around the world deployed rescue teams to Türkiye's quake-hit zone, supporting hope of pulling more survivors from the rubble after powerful earthquakes killed over 9,000 people in the country.