Justin Trudeau assures the Turkish President that Canada is ready to help his country
Justin Trudeau (right) reiterated to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) Canada's support for Turkey, which is recovering from a violent earthquake. (File photo)
Canada stands ready to airlift NATO humanitarian supplies to Turkey, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as operations are continuing in this country and in Syria to find survivors of the major earthquake that killed thousands.
Mr. Trudeau also offered his condolences to Mr. Erdogan and to the Turkish people, who are grieving following the earthquake that killed more than 40,000 people on February 6.
According to the minutes provided by the Prime Minister's Office, Mr. Trudeau offered Canada's unwavering support for recovery efforts in Turkey, stating that Canada is ready to airlift NATO humanitarian supplies. to Turkey.
Prime Minister Trudeau informed the President that the Canadian Armed Forces also stand ready to provide any additional support to the Turkish authorities, if necessary, can be read in the summary of the conversation.
In the aftermath of the deadly earthquake, Canada sent $10 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to meet the immediate and most urgent needs of those affected by these devastating events.
The death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria now exceeds 45,000 and international aid is being organised. Canada has told Turkey that it is prepared to airlift humanitarian supplies. Meanwhile, the rescuers continue their excavations in the rubble and still manage to get out of the survivors. A report by Kim Vermette.
The federal government has also announced its intention to match all donations made by individuals to the Canadian Red Cross to help the Turkey and Syria, February 6-22, up to a maximum of $10 million.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Trudeau indicated that further financial assistance from Canada and Canadians would follow previously announced funds. President Erdogan thanked Mr. Trudeau for this gesture, as well as for the assistance already announced.
On the ground, a couple and their son were extracted from the rubble under a collapsed apartment building in Antakya, the capital of Hatay Province, Turkey. The child, however, died a few hours later.
The three people were transferred to hospitals after spending 296 hours buried under the Kanatli building in the center of the city, according to a local television station. Footage showed medics attaching an IV to the man's arm as he lay on a stretcher.
The agency Anadolu press identified those rescued as 49-year-old Samir Muhammed Accar, his 40-year-old wife Ragda and their 12-year-old son. The boy later died in hospital. The bodies of two other children were also found in the rubble, according to media reports which quoted a member of a rescue team.
Hatay is one of the provinces most affected by the earthquake in Turkey. As of Friday evening, the death toll in Turkey stood at 39,672, bringing the death toll in that nation and neighboring Syria to 43,360.
