Georgian rescuers involved in Turkey earthquake relief efforts return to Georgia

Georgian rescuers of the country’s Emergency Management Service completed the search and rescue operations of the latest deadly quake in Turkey and returned to Georgia with a special charter flight by the decision of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, the Georgian Interior Ministry said.

Deputy Interior Minister Ioseb Chelidze and Teimuraz Mgebrishvili, the Head of the Emergency Management Service, as well as Turkish Ambassador to Georgia Ali Kaan Orbai, met the rescuers at the Tbilisi International Airport, with Orbai once again thanking the members of the rescue crew for their dedication in Turkey.

The other part of the Georgian rescuers, with rescue equipment, will return to Georgia by land.

During his working trip to Turkey, Garibashvili and his Government delegation on Friday met with Georgian emergency professionals in Antakya and thanked the “hero rescuers” for their dedicated efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake.

By the decision of the Prime Minister, around 200 Georgian professionals participated in the search and rescue operations in Turkey’s city of Adıyaman worst affected by the devastating quake and after the rotation, they continued the rescue efforts in Antakya, the capital of the southern Turkish province of Hatay that suffered major casualties and damage in the disaster.

Following Garibashvili’s instructions on February 10, the Government allocated ₾1 million ($374,000) from its reserve fund to deliver medicine, food, clothes, medical equipment, and other necessities for the survivors of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and delivered more than 100 tonnes of humanitarian cargo to Turkey on February 14.