Croatia remembers Turkey's 'great help' after quake

BELGRADE, Serbia

Croatia will not forget the Republic of Turkey's significant financial and humanitarian aid after the devastating earthquake, said senior officials during the Turkish foreign minister's visit.

Croatia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Gordan Grlic-Radman and Deputy Prime Minister Tomo Medved visited the earthquake-hit Petrinje town of the central Sisak region together with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday.

On that occasion, Medved thanked Cavusoglu for everything that Turkey has done to help Croatia, especially the population affected by the earthquake on December 28 and 29, 2020, in the area of ​​Sisak-Moslavina, parts of Zagreb and Karlovac counties.

"Among the first, after our call within the mechanism of the Union for Civil Protection, on December 30, the Republic of Turkey sent 272 heaters. In stages until the end of January, the Republic of Turkey directed 200 housing containers and 480 tents to the quake-hit area. This is a great help for the affected area," said Medved.

He recalled that after the earthquake, the first measure was to provide safe accommodation to the people who lost their homes, and the funds that Turkey donated to Croatia were positioned as soon as possible where it was most needed.

"Aware of the fact that our friends from the Republic of Turkey have experience in similar disasters, including earthquakes, it is a special indicator that they appreciate and recognize the need for their contribution in helping the Republic of Croatia in repairing this devastating earthquake," said Medved.

Medved also expressed confidence that friendly relations with Turkey would be continued.

Grlic-Radman said that the contacts made so far are signs of good cooperation, trust, and friendship.

"Precisely because of this earthquake, because of this situation in which our Croatian citizens were affected by the devastating earthquake, this visit and meeting happened at the right time. The Republic of Turkey and Minister Cavusoglu responded immediately to my call and sent generous humanitarian aid... It is a strong form of solidarity that we will also remember very strongly. One friendly, partner gesture of an equally friendly country," said Grlic-Radman.

Meanwhile, Cavusoglu said that Turkey wants to share its acquired experience to tackle the disaster with Croatia.

"In the reconstruction of the earthquake zone, we want to give our utmost support. We need to be prepared for disasters, especially earthquakes. You need to be in solidarity wherever there is a disaster. The people of that country should also be supported. We experienced this solidarity from Croatia and the Croatian public after the earthquake in Turkey. With this understanding, we wanted to be the first country to reach Croatia after the earthquake that occurred here," said Cavusoglu.

A powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the town of Petrinja, killing seven people and injuring 27 others on December 29, 2020.

Many buildings were damaged and 160 thousand people were affected.