ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s search and rescue team expressed solidarity with the people of Turkey and urged the international community to step forward and assist the country.
The death toll from two powerful earthquakes on February 6 in southern Turkey so far claimed more than 43,500 lives. The next phase, the relief and rehabilitation process, has begun in the aftermath of the twin earthquakes.
“The level of destruction is beyond the capacity of one country,” Major Mateen, leader of a 33-member Urban Search and Rescue team with Pakistan Army, told reporters, moments before flying back home after a 17-day operation in southern Adiyaman province.
Lauding the Turkish government and civil administration for “managing” the quake aftermaths situation “very well,” he said: “but due to the destruction level, the international community should come forward and help these people. They really need your help.”
The powerful tremors were centred in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.
Over 9,000 international search and rescue personnel, including three teams from Pakistan, had flown into Turkey to assist the Turkish government in saving people trapped under the collapsed buildings.
Expressing his nation’s “sympathies and well wishes” to Turkey, Mateen said: “Rescue and recovery operation has finished […] Now we are going to the relief and rehabilitation phase, which requires a substantial budget.”
“Please come forward and help Turkey,” he urged the international community as messages of gratitude were displayed on Istanbul airport billboards to international rescuers who assisted in the aftermath of the earthquakes.
“Thank you for your solidarity,” read the digital billboard messages, which featured flags from different countries and messages in local languages.
’Didn’t waste any time’
Recalling the two nations’ historical relations, Mateen said Pakistan and Turkey “help each other in times of difficulty.”
“That is why our team was here on next day after the earthquakes hit Turkey,” he said, recalling how the team “didn’t waste any time” soon after the natural calamity hit Turkey on February 6.
“We started our rescue operations 24/7 […] to save as many people as possible,” he said, adding the rescuers searched more than 90 buildings.
They arrived with eight tons of search and rescue equipment, as well as two highly trained sniffer dogs.
On Wednesday, another 53-member Pakistani team from Rescue 1122 returned home.
The two Pakistani teams pulled 14 people alive from the rubbles and assisted other teams in saving another 14 people from damaged buildings, many of whom had experienced “pancake” collapse.
They also recovered the bodies of 140 people from the destroyed buildings.
“I understand it’s a tough time […] God willing, this difficult period will pass quickly and Turkey will emerge even stronger than before,” Mateen remarked.
“Pakistan is always here to help Turkey and we are always at the back of Turkey in the same way Turkey did in our times of need… in every stance, Turkey (has) helped Pakistan,” said the Pakistani military major-rank officer.
“Stay strong, stay focused; Insha’Allah, this tough time will pass, and a lot of comforts and good things will happen,” he emphasized.
‘Our responsibility’
Along with Istanbul Deputy Governor Ozlem Bozkurt Gevrek, Pakistan’s ambassador Yousaf Junaid said at the seeing-off ceremony at Istanbul airport that it was his country’s “responsibility” to respond to the situation in the two strong earthquakes’ aftermath.
“We are here to say goodbye to the team from Pakistan Army… they were here when our brothers (in Turkey) needed it most,” Junaid said.
“We are very proud that we were able to respond urgently during this very difficult time for Turkey, but we understand and believe that this accident happened not in Turkey but in the hearts of Pakistanis,” he added.
Recalling Turkey’s help after an earthquake hit northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Azad Kashmir in 2005, Junaid said: “We remember very vividly and clearly […] Turkey was the first to respond to our needs, as was the case during the 2010 floods.”
“We feel that it is our responsibility […] and a must for us to be together with our brothers and sisters in Turkey, and by the grace of God, the time has proven that we withstood this test in the most possible way, and whatever resources we had are at the disposable of Turkey,” the ambassador said.
Junaid said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been “constantly engaged in the process of search and rescue” since day one.
“Every day, he is monitoring a special group that he has formed for relief action,” he said, recalling Sharif’s last week trip to quake-hit parts of southern Turkey, where he “witnessed catastrophe and scale of destruction.”
“There are no words […] it is very difficult to comment because the scenes of devastation that we have seen are unprecedented in modern history,” the ambassador said, adding: “but we are confident the people of Turkey will manage it.”
