Taiwan's support for Turkey continues after the earthquakes that took place in Kahramanmaraş on February 6 and also hit the surrounding cities. A meeting was held at the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs for aid to Turkey and Syria. Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, Taipei Turkish Trade Office Representative Muhammed Berdibek, representatives of Taiwan search and rescue team and local administrators attended the meeting.
"The AKUT team came to our aid in 1999, now it's our turn"
Speaking at the press conference, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu announced that a total of 917 million Taiwan dollars (568 million 206 thousand TL) was collected for those affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria in the aid campaign they started as Taiwan. Joseph Wu started his speech by saying, "The AKUT team came to our aid in the earthquake we experienced in Taiwan on September 21, 1999, now it's our turn to help Turkey." Wu said, "As soon as we heard about the earthquake disaster, we immediately sent a search and rescue team of 130 people to Turkey with their specially trained dogs. We announced that we would provide aid worth 2 million dollars afterwards.
"They will give 6 million USD directly to AFAD"
Taipei Turkish Trade Office Representative Muhammed Berdibek said, "Taiwan has always been with us since the first day of the earthquake. They have called us for a meeting now. They announced 30 million US dollars (aid). Other than that, we have already received the help of people over 400 tons. This will be an additional figure. I hope it will be beneficial for Turkey and contribute to Turkey's next processes. Taiwanese do not only call for emergency help. For the next process, too. "They want to contribute to the rebuilding of cities, container cities or sites. In other words, they want to be present throughout the rebuilding process. We thank you," he said.
The financial aid campaign initiated by Taiwan for earthquake victims will end on 6 March.
