Iranian Turks rush to help earthquake victims in Türkiye

TEHRAN, Iran

Iranian Turks living in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province have collected relief materials for those affected by the Feb. 6 earthquakes in Türkiye.

Locals from two villages in the region delivered the aid to Türkiye’s Consulate General in the city of Urmia.

In a Twitter post, the Turkish Consulate General in Urmia thanked the villagers and said the aid would be delivered to the earthquake zones as soon as possible.

Aid provided by the Iranian people had previously been sent to the earthquake zones through Türkiye’s Embassy in Tehran and the Consulate General in Tabriz.

At least 42,310 people have been killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, the country’s disaster management agency said Tuesday.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said the quakes, centered in Pazarcik and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaras province, were followed by 7,184 aftershocks.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig and Sanliurfa.

More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of fewer than 10 hours.