11yearold girl rescued in Turkey’s Hatay region, some 160 hours after earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria | Photo: EFE/EPA/STR
Foreign rescue workers sent to Turkey to help rescue victims of the earthquakes that hit the country and Syria earlier last week are leaving the country citing security concerns.
This Sunday (12), the Israeli rescue service United Hatzalah, which had sent about 40 volunteers to southern Turkey, reported that it was ending rescue work early after initially forecasting that the team would be held in the country for ten days.
A spokesman for the organization told the Times of Israel newspaper website that the early return was motivated by two concerns: the proximity of the border with Syria and the Turkish city of Gaziantepe, which has recorded activity by the terrorist group State Over the Islamic State and ” growing unrest” among Turkish citizens about the hesitant reaction of the Erdogan government to the earthquakes.
According to information from CNN, Germany and Austria made similar announcements on Saturday (11th).
Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Assistance has halted rescue and relief work due to security concerns in the Hatay region, while the Austrian Armed Forces have taken the same action, citing “the increasing intergroup aggression in Turkey”, although it said it was “Rescue and recovery forces will continue on site”.
The White Helmets on Friday (10th) announced the end of rescue operations in rebelheld areas in northern and northwestern Syria, claiming there was no chance of locating survivors.
The latest official figures confirmed the deaths of 34,179 people from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. In Turkey, 29,605 fatalities have already been recorded, in the neighboring country there have been 4,574 deaths so far.
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