HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Photo: Wam
The UAE is providing urgent humanitarian aid to Turkey and Syria after it was hit by the devastating earthquake on February 6 which claimed the lives of thousands while leaving many injured and missing. With a magnitude of 7.8, the earthquake was felt across Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece, Jordan, and Palestine, and is being described as the deadliest tragedy to hit Turkey since 1939.
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has directed the establishment of a field hospital in Turkey and the dispatch of search and rescue teams in both Turkey and Syria. Moreover, urgent relief supplies and emergency aid will be provided to families in the hardest-hit areas of Syria. “I extend my sincere condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives in today’s devastating earthquake,” HH Sheikh Mohamed stated. “The UAE stands in solidarity with the Turkish and Syrian people, and we pray that God grants a speedy recovery to those who have been injured.”
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has also directed the dispatch of urgent humanitarian aid worth AED50 million to the people of Syria. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives will oversee the delivery of the aid in the form of ration parcels provided to the most affected groups in the country. The royal affirmed the UAE’s support for Syria and stated that it will stand by its people and continue to extend a helping hand until they have overcome the tragedy.
The help forms part of the UAE’s ‘Principles of the 50’ which states that “foreign humanitarian aid is an essential part of its vision and moral duty towards less fortunate peoples and that the foreign humanitarian aid is not tied to religion, race, color or culture.”
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