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Ethiopia holds aid campaign for Turkiye’s quake victims

February 28, 2023 at 5:13 pm

A lot of buildings are collapsed or severely damaged due to the powerful twin earthquakes that hit Turkiye [Sidar Can Eren – Anadolu Agency]

Ethiopians launched an aid campaign and have raised 10 million Ethiopian birr ($186,320) for the victims affected by the 6 February earthquakes in southern Turkiye, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Despite being struck by civil war and drought, where tens of thousands of lives were lost, the people in Ethiopia gathered forces and mobilised to help the quake-hit victims in Turkiye’s 11 provinces.

Since the first day, Ethiopians who went to Turkish representative offices in the country to convey condolences, performed funeral prayers in absentia in mosques and prayed for the quake victims and Turkiye.

READ: Syria Church in southern Turkiye takes severe damage from February quakes

On Monday, a program was organised in the capital, Addis Ababa, for the aid campaign initiated by Turkiye’s Addis Ababa Embassy.

The program participants included Turkish Ambassador to Addis Ababa, Yaprak Alp, Ethiopian Federal Parliament Harar deputy and Ethiopia-Turkey Friendship Group Chairman, Fatih Wazir, TIKA Ethiopia Program Coordinator, Cengiz Polat, and Ethiopian-Turkish Alumni Association President, Fennan Mohammed, as well as philanthropists in the country.

During the program, donors presented symbolic donation checks to Ambassador Alp in Addis Ababa.

Alp said the Ethiopian government has been supporting Turkiye since the first day of the quake, sending thousands of blankets and tents, along with soldiers and professional search and rescue workers.

“Turkiye is facing an unprecedented disaster,” Alp said, adding: “Turkiye is going through really difficult times, but it is precisely this kind of solidarity, of which we have seen a very good example today, that makes these difficult days bearable, “she added.

Wazir said: “Turkiye is reaping the fruits of the seeds of love, compassion and solidarity it has been sowing for years. I don’t know which other country in the world could be the recipient of such an act of solidarity. I don’t know if there is a country in the world that does not owe Turkiye a debt of loyalty. God bless Turkiye.”

Mohammed, for his part, said that for the alumni, supporting Turkiye is not an option but an obligation.

“You can see the traces of Turkiye and Turkish NGOs in every inch of Ethiopia. It breaks our hearts when we see the super-human efforts of these organisations not to leave the work they started here unfinished, even in this earthquake disaster. No matter what we do, we cannot repay our debt to Turkiye,” he added.

Polat said the Ethiopian people have been going through very difficult times in recent years, and noted: “Our tears have been mixed together since the first day of the quakes. It is impossible to describe with words the appreciation of our Ethiopian brothers and sisters towards Turkiye.”

READ: WHO Tedros pledges support after first visit to Turkiye quake zone