A disastrous 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Kurdish city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey on February 6, with its impact also ripping through neighbouring Syria. Several other strong quakes and thousands of aftershocks followed. Around 50,000 people have died in both countries, according to latest figures.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) as well as the Region’s humanitarian organizations and people were among the first to provide aid to the neighbouring country. Several fundraising campaigns have also been launched in the Region.
Turkish officials have refrained from publicly acknowledging the Region’s role in the global response to the natural disaster.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday thanked the countries which provided quake-related aid to Ankara in their languages but he did not thank the Kurdistan Region. Former Turkish prime minister and head of the opposition Future Party Ahmet Davutoglu slammed the minister on Monday for ignoring the role of Kurds.
“Why did you disregard our Kurdish brothers while thanking the teams who came for help in their own language? Let us also thank our Kurdish brothers, whom the Minister of Foreign Affairs disregarded: Spas [thanks in Kurdish],” he said.
In two separate tweets on Monday and Wednesday, Ali Babacan, leader of opposition party DEVA, thanked the Kurds in Kurdish for their support, adding the flag of Kurdistan to the list of nations who have supported Turkey.
Many Kurds on Twitter thanked both opposition leaders for acknowledging the role of Kurds in responding to the quakes.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani paid a visit to some quake-hit areas in Turkey on February 14. He was received by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara the same day.
Ankara and Erbil enjoy great economic relations, and most of the Kurdistan Region's crude oil is marketed through Turkey's pipelines.
Mehmet Mevlut Yakut, the Turkish Consul General to Erbil, told Rudaw on Sunday that the friendship between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region developed further following Erbil’s campaign of humanitarian relief to the quake-hit country.
Yakut commended a message by Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani during his visit to quake-hit Turkey.
“He gave the message of ‘we share your pain, your pain is our shared pain.’ I find this very meaningful and we are expressing our gratitude for this,” said the Turkish diplomat.
The Kurdish language is banned in official settings in Turkey and many people have been jailed for raising the Kurdistan flag which has been present during many meetings between Turkish and KRG officials.
