Minister Çavuşoğlu held a joint press conference with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic after his meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Stating that Bosnia and Herzegovina stood by Turkey with messages of solidarity and then the search and rescue teams he sent, Çavuşoğlu said, “13 search and rescue teams of 234 people from Bosnia and Herzegovina came to Turkey right after the earthquake. Start with heart in Hatay, Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş. They are working and they have rescued 26 people from the rubble as of February 12. They also sent tents for earthquake victims and pledged financial aid.” said.
Expressing that the Presidency of the Islamic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Red Cross, cantonal authorities, municipalities and non-governmental organizations also started an aid campaign, Çavuşoğlu stated that 30 tons of humanitarian aid collected in aid campaigns reached Turkey.
Noting that citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are also collecting aid for Turkey, Çavuşoğlu said, “We see a really great conversation from Bosnia and Herzegovina. As you may have seen on the news, a 12-year-old brother named Benjamin Mehanovic collected aid money by selling tea on the streets of Sarajevo. I kiss the eyes of our brother Benjamin. Again, a Bosnian. Our grandmother gave the money she had saved for the dark day to the volunteers at the exit of the mosque and asked her to deliver it to us, and we kiss our grandmother’s hands as well.” he said.
Stating that Turkey is going through difficult times, but the love and solidarity from the world gives great strength to the Turkish nation, Çavuşoğlu stated that he met his counterpart face-to-face for the first time after assuming the duty of foreign ministry and wished him success in his new position.
“We are working together to further strengthen our historical and cultural ties with Bosnia and Herzegovina. We attach great importance to the peace, prosperity and stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We strongly support its territorial integrity and sovereignty.” Çavuşoğlu noted that bilateral relations were also evaluated at this meeting.
Expressing that he was pleased with the establishment of the Bosnia-Herzegovina government in a shorter time than expected, Çavuşoğlu said, “We hope that the government will be established as soon as possible at the federation level. We are also pleased that Bosnia and Herzegovina received a negotiation date from the European Union and received a candidacy status. We strongly support the Euro-Atlantic Integration of all countries in the Western Balkans.” used the phrase.
“The number of countries that have offered assistance so far is 100”
Underlining that they have received great support and solidarity from the international community, Çavuşoğlu said, “The number of countries that have offered assistance so far is 100, the number of countries in terms of the search and rescue team in the field is 76, the staff is 7,606, there are 2 more countries that are expected to send a team. That is to say, approximately 712. Additional personnel will come from abroad. said.
On the other hand, Çavuşoğlu stated that there are foreign teams who have completed their duties in the earthquake zone and returned, “Some teams say that they want to go to another place when the search activities in the earthquake area are over, they want to continue there, and some return to their country after they finish. So far, search and rescue teams from 12 countries He returned to their country after completing his duties in those regions. used the phrase.
Recalling that they went to Hatay with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, Minister Çavuşoğlu said that the Greek team completed the search and rescue work in their region and returned.
Noting that disinformation spread especially on social media regarding the return of search and rescue teams from abroad to earthquake regions, Çavuşoğlu noted that ugly slanders were made.
Stating that allegations were made about some search and rescue teams, Çavuşoğlu said, “Unfortunately, a significant part of those who do these are our own media, our own social media users. I mean, I don’t understand what their purpose is here, what profit they are making here, but to these countries,” Çavuşoğlu said. We are also ashamed. Because they came with good intentions and they are helping us.”
Minister Çavuşoğlu said, “Of course, everything is not perfect. At first, there may be a lack of coordination, there may be some problems, but in a short time the system settled down, and all of them came from other countries, our state institutions from Turkey, AFAD, Gendarmerie, Kızılay, on the other hand, in Turkey. “Civil search and rescue organizations have carried out and are carrying out these works in solidarity with all of them. Some of them have finished and are returning, we thank each and every one of them.” said.
Sharing the information that there are ambassadors in the field, 34 personnel are assigned for this purpose, and that there are 4 ambassadors in Adana and two ambassadors in other earthquake zones, Çavuşoğlu said, “You already know that we had representatives in 3 regions, in Hatay, Gaziantep and Diyarbakır. Unfortunately, we told our ambassador in Hatay. We haven’t reached it yet. He was living in an apartment known as ‘Renaissance’ in the public.” made its assessment.
Çavuşoğlu stated that the reason for the appointment of these personnel here was to ensure such coordination, and thanked the countries and organizations that work voluntarily in the region.
“About 36 thousand tents came to Turkey from abroad”
Noting that they are working hard to meet the urgent need for shelter in the earthquake area, Çavuşoğlu said that on the one hand, there is an intensive production of tents and containers in Turkey, and on the other hand, they bring tents from abroad.
Çavuşoğlu said, “We received approximately 111 thousand commitments from abroad. Around 36 thousand tents came to Turkey from abroad. Currently, there are approximately 51 thousand tents planned to arrive. Others are planned. In addition, we purchase 105 thousand tents abroad. We coordinate with our missions.” said.
On the other hand, Çavuşoğlu stated that the containers used in the World Cup have started to depart from Qatar and said that since the containers are large, he will come directly to the Iskenderun Port by ship.
Çavuşoğlu stated that while temporary accommodation opportunities are provided, they will work to complete the permanent residences within one year.
Konakovic: Bosnia and Herzegovina will take part in aid processes with maximum capacity
Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic expressed his condolences to the Turkish people for the earthquake and said that their plan was actually to attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and talk about bilateral relations, but this has changed due to the current situation.
Emphasizing that his country stands very strongly behind the Turkish people and state, Konakovic said, “People from Turkey came first in all crises in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are always grateful for this. In 2014, there were great floods, many people lost their lives and there were financial losses. First Turkey Search and rescue teams came from Turkey and gave us great support.” he said.
Noting that he is very honored to be among the countries that sent search and rescue teams to Turkey, Konakovic said that although they are not a country with a very developed and strong economy, Bosnia and Herzegovina shows that it is with the Turkish people and state.
Konakovic stated that they show what a big heart the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina have and pointed out that they want to help people financially as much as possible and this shows how much they are devoted to Turkey.
Explaining that he will go to Adana by plane and go to Hatay today, Minister Konakovic said that he wants to go to Kahramanmaraş and other earthquake-affected areas, but that it is very difficult.
Konakovic stated that he will go to the search and rescue teams that his country is honored and said, “These people came here without thinking, without waiting for the procedure. Thank God, they were able to save at least a few people. We want to provide all kinds of assistance within our own capacity, especially to support the earthquake zone. ” used the phrases.
Pointing out that Turkey is strong and has taken big steps even when it is in a difficult situation, Konakovic said that the airport runway in Hatay was immediately repaired.
Elmedin Konakovic expressed their desire to develop and maintain the economic and bilateral relations between the two countries.
Pointing out that the candidacy process for the European Union (EU) membership has started in Bosnia and Herzegovina and they are working on 14 articles, Konakovic pointed out that cultural relations from the east are also important apart from the EU and other Euro-Atlantic relations.
Bosnia and Herzegovina Foreign Minister Konakovic stated that they will take part in all processes with maximum capacity and said, “We want to support the establishment of the system, especially the regions where earthquake victims are. As Bosnia and Herzegovina, we want to provide all kinds of assistance and institutional support to our brothers living here for Turkey.” said.
Underlining that although there are different opinions among the political parties, Konakovic underlined that everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina agrees on this issue and emphasized that the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina are extremely close to the Turkish people and they will always be together.
source: aa