Zambry expresses appreciation to Turkish envoy for helping to coordinate humanitarian assistance

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir expressed his appreciation to Turkiye's Ambassador to Malaysia Emir Salim Yuksel for the assistance rendered in coordinating the deployment of Malaysia's third humanitarian assistance team on Friday, to the Adiyaman province in the southeastern part of the country.

Zambry on this Twitter account today confirmed that the team comprising 38 personnel from the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) will be deployed on Friday using an A400 transport aircraft to provide humanitarian aid to earthquake victims there.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with the victims of the earthquake, their family members and rescuers in these difficult moments.

"Our Embassy in Ankara @MYEmbAnkara and Consulate General in Istanbul @MWIstanbul continue to monitor and obtain the latest updates from Turkish authorities," he said.

The MAF headquarters, in a statement earlier was reported as saying that the main aim of Malaysian Field Hospital (HMM)'s operation in Turkiye is to express the Malaysian government's wishes to provide humanitarian aid to victims affected by the disaster.

The operation in total involves 106 MAF staff led by operations commander Brig Gen Datuk Dr Amran Amir Hamzah, and the team will be deployed to Turkiye in three phases starting Friday using an A400 aircraft as well as commercial aircraft, added the statement.

According to the latest official figures more than 16,540 people were killed and 66,130 others were injured in 10 provinces of Turkiye so far following two strong quakes, with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 respectively, that jolted the southern region of the country Monday.

The powerful quake also devastated neighbouring Syria with nearly 1,347 people reportedly killed and over 2,295 others wounded. The effects of the earthquake were also reported to be felt in Cyprus and Lebanon.

On Tuesday, Turkiye declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces, namely Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa, to ensure the search and rescue operations run smoothly.

-- BERNAMA