ISTANBUL: Planes from Pakistan carrying tents for quake victims have arrived in the southern Adana province of Turkey.
“Two consignments comprising 2,400 tents arrived at Turkey’s Adana via two chartered planes on March 13. In the last 48 hours, this was the fourth plane that had arrived from Pakistan, each carrying 1,200 tents,” Pakistan’s embassy in Ankara said in a statement.
Pakistan has launched a special chartered flight operation to expedite the transport of 50,000 tents to Turkey by the third week of March, it added.
Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, a former deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly, accompanied the plane from Pakistan.
Khan told reporters that Pakistan and Turkey have “a heart-to-heart relationship” that transcends the boundaries of time and geography.
“It is unique in the sense that the strength of one country makes another stronger and the pain of one country is felt by the other. Whether it be floods in Pakistan or earthquake in Turkey, Pakistani and Turkish people have always stood by each other’s side,” he added.
Burcu Cevik, an official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, thanked the government and the people of Pakistan for their quick response and solidarity with Turkey in this testing time.
Under the directions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, earthquake relief supplies, mainly winterized tents, are being transported through air, land, and sea routes. From February 7 to date, 14 aircraft have brought aid to Turkey.
At least 48,448 people have been killed by the earthquakes that struck on February 6, according to official figures.
More than 13 million people have been affected by the powerful quakes that rocked 11 Turkish provinces — Kahramanmaras, Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Elazig, and Sanliurfa.
