Hungarian charities offer aid, launch donation drives
The Hungarian Reformed Church Charity said it is providing emergency shelters and supplies to people in need.
The Hungarian Red Cross said it is collecting donations in line with requests received from partner organisations the Turkish Red Crescent and Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
The Hungarian Maltese Charity said it is setting up its first mobile clinic in Syria in the city of Latakia, as well as a hotspot providing food, drink, and toiletries to residents of the earthquake-hit area. The charity said in a statement that many Syrians in the area had spent a chilly night in cars for fear of further tremors. It is working together with its local partner, the Greek Catholic Church, to rescue survivors beneath the rubble.
According to its statement, Syria has not received as many international rescue teams as Turkiye, because the country is under sanctions and entry is difficult. Electricity and fuel supplies were erratic even before the disaster, while some areas are controlled by armed organisations, making travel difficult, it added.
The Hungarian Ecumenical Charity said it is sending aid containing food, hygiene supplies and blankets to the Aleppo region while providing accommodation to families in need.
The Hungarian Islam Community is collecting winter clothing and cash donations and it will transfer these to its Turkish partner organisation Sadakatesi Dernegi.
Tristan Azbej, the foreign ministry’s state secretary in charge of persecuted Christians, said the government is supporting Hungarian rescue teams working in Turkiye through its Hungary Helps humanitarian aid programme.
Szijjarto: Hungarian rescue units save 21 earthquake survivors
Hungarian rescue units have saved 21 survivors, five children among them, in Turkiye in two days after an earthquake killed over 5,000 people in Turkiye and Syria, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday.
With two further units arriving in the Hatay region in southeast Turkiye on Wednesday, there are now seven units, 156 Hungarians working with 28 dogs to rescue people from the rubble, Szijjarto said.
Rescue efforts are now in a critical stage, some 60 hours after the earthquake, he said, and thanked the rescue missions for their work.