Ukraine on Tuesday announced it was dispatching a team of 87 rescue workers to Turkey to help deal with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that also struck Syria and killed more than 5,000 people.
• Also read: At least 100 Leopard 1 tanks will soon be delivered to Ukraine
• Also read: The Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine is “successful,” says Moscow
• Also read: The UN chief fears that the world is heading “with open eyes” towards a “broader war”.
“The Ministry of Interior and the Emergency Service are dispatching a combined search and rescue team of 87 people to Turkey,” including 10 aircraft and vehicle pilots, the Ukrainian government said on its website.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the phone and offered him his condolences for “the terrible tragedy that has befallen the Turkish people”.
“I informed him about the decision to send a group of rescuers and equipment from Ukraine to Turkey to help deal with the aftermath of the earthquake,” he added on Telegram.
“Ukrainian specialists have relevant experience in dealing with the consequences of natural disasters and will arrive in the affected regions as soon as possible,” he continued.
Near Kyiv and Moscow, Turkey has been trying to act as a mediator since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
While supplying arms to Kyiv, Ankara regularly offers to mediate between the two belligerents. In particular, it played a key role in a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine in September and the conclusion in July of an agreement under the aegis of the United Nations that would allow Ukrainian grain to be exported across the Black Sea and the Bosphorus.
Ukraine, on the other hand, has not announced any aid to Syria because the government in Damascus is a close ally of Russia, which has military bases there.