TURKEY

Farewell Ceremony Held in Kahramanmaraş for Israeli Search and Rescue Teams

An official ceremony was organized in Kahramanmaraş on Monday morning, due to the completion of their duties, for the Israeli search and rescue teams that had arrived in Turkey on the day of the earthquake, worked non-stop for a week, and saved 19 people from the rubble as a part of the 450-people ´Olive Branches´ humanitarian aid delegation.
Farewell Ceremony Held in Kahramanmaraş for Israeli Search and Rescue Teams

The Israeli Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Nadav Markman who has been in the earthquake zone to control the coordination of the aid delegation since the first day, in his speech during the ceremony said, "As the Israeli envoy I offer my condolences to all the Turkish citizens who lost their close ones. This week all of our Israeli teams have worked professionally to save the earthquake victims. We have seen clearly how strong the ties between Turkey and Israel are. We have worked very smoothly with the Turkish citizens and the Turkish search and rescue teams and received all the help we needed. The rescue teams are going back to Israel, however, we will continue our help with our remaining teams and field hospital. We are ready to provide all the support as the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli Embassy in Turkey and the Consulate in Istanbul. I hope such events never happen again."

Colonel Golan Landsberg, the commander of the search and rescue team, who had also previously served during the Gölcük and Düzce earthquakes in 1999, also made a speech during the ceremony. Colonel thanking his team said, "How few are even 19 people but how even one person is a lot."

While a part of the search and rescue teams of the 450-people 'Olive Branches' delegation is returning to Israel, the emergency aid, humanitarian support, and medical aid units will continue their work in the field and the field hospital set up at the earthquake zone.

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