Babacan thanks rescue teams in Kurdish
DEVA Party Chairperson Ali Babacan thanked countries that sent relief and rescue teams to Turkey, including Iraq's Kurdistan Region (KRI), after the country was hit by severe earthquakes that killed more than 43,500 people.
Babacan posted on Twitter a graphic of the flags of the countries that sent search and rescue teams, thanking them in eight languages, including the word "spas" - "thank you" in Kurdish - and saying, "We are grateful to our brothers from all over the world who reached out to us in our difficult days."
6 Şubat depreminin ardından ülkemize gelerek arama-kurtarma çalışmalarına katılan, canla başla çaba gösteren, yardım gönderen dostlarımıza teşekkürler.
— Ali Babacan (@alibabacan) February 20, 2023
Thanks
Merci
Danke
Grazie
Spas
Спасибо
ευχαριστώ
شكرًا pic.twitter.com/2KWt6qE89g
The Turkish Foreign Ministry was criticized for not including the KRI in its video thanking countries, which was released a few days ago.
The KRI had sent relief supplies to Turkey in trucks and search and rescue teams immediately after the earthquake.
Earlier, Ahmet Davutoglu, the leader of the Future Party, had criticized the Foreign Ministry and thanked the teams in Kurdish.
"Let us also thank our Kurdish brothers whom the foreign minister ignored: the Kurds," he said.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also released a message of solidarity in three languages, including Kurdish.