- Biro Pers, Media dan Informasi Sekretariat Presiden
VIVA – The Indonesian government will send humanitarian aid to Turkiye to help the victims of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Turkiye and Syria on Monday, February 6, 2023. It was said by President Joko Widodo.
The assistance is currently being prepared by the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry, as well as the Social Affairs Ministry. It is being prepared and will be dispatched as soon as possible. This morning still finds the airplane,” President Joko Widodo stated in a statement, at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday.
Moreover, Indonesian Ambassador to Turkiye, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said that the first batch of humanitarian aid, in the form of a freight container full of foods, is en route from Ankara to Gaziantep, which was among the most-affected cities in the quake.
"Now, I and the embassy team is moving to Gaziantep to distribute the humanitarian aid, in the form of a freight container full of foods from the Indonesian government, for the Turkish Red Crescent," Iqbal informed at a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
Gempa bumi dahsyat bermagnitudo 7,8 mengguncang Turki pada pada Senin 6 Februari 2023.
- AP Photo/Hussein Malla.
His side has also distributed portable gas stoves and gas tanks, as well as 300 blankets for Indonesian nationals who have decided to remain in the affected cities.
According to the embassy’s records, 10 Indonesian nationals were injured in Monday’s quake, he informed. Four of them received medical care at local hospitals and 6 will be evacuated to Ankara, he added.
The embassy has also evacuated 104 Indonesian nationals from earthquake-affected regions to Ankara.
Separately, Indonesian Vice President, Ma'ruf Amin highlighted the need to dispatch humanitarian aid to Turkiye as soon as possible to reciprocate its support for Indonesia during major natural disasters in the past.
"Turkiye was among the first to assist us during the (December 26, 2004) tsunami in Aceh, and we had also discussed with the President and Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto to send a humanitarian mission (to Turkiye)," Ma’ruf Amin said after visiting the Java Integrated and Industrial Port Estate in Gresik, East Java, on Tuesday.
Dispatching humanitarian aid is part of Indonesia's responsibility to the global community as countries in the world are expected to support each other when a disaster strikes, he explained.
"The world, indeed, should support each other; this has been our human tradition." the Vice President said.
As information, on Monday morning, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Pazarcik district in Kahramanmaras province and severely shook several other provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Ormaniye, Hatay and Kilis.
Then at 1:24 pm local time, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake centered in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras shook the region.
