In a phone call on Friday, Turkey’s president thanked his Russian colleague for his support following the terrible earthquakes that struck the country’s southern region on February 6.
“President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan thanked President (Vladimir) Putin for expressing sympathy with Türkiye in the aftermath of the earthquakes,” the Turkish presidency said.
The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes impacted Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Adana, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig, in addition to Kahramanmaras. The terrible tremors have affected 13.5 million people. Condolences have flooded in from all across the world, with many countries sending rescue teams and help to Turkey.
In addition, on the first anniversary of the continuing Russia-Ukraine war, Erdogan emphasized “the need for achieving a just peace to prevent additional loss of life and devastation.”
“Expressing Türkiye’s earnest intention for the resurrection of the (grain) deal signed in Istanbul,” the president said.
Russian armies poured into Ukraine from the north, south, and east on February 24, 2022, in an attack that Ukrainian authorities later acknowledged they knew was inevitable at least a few days in advance.
According to the most recent UN numbers, almost 8,000 people have been dead and approximately 13,300 more have been injured since Russia launched what it dubbed a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Last July, Turkey, the United Nations, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to restore grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that had been halted following the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.