Turkey stands by Libya in wake of the country’s deadly flood disaster, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, adding that he had ordered the mobilization of all state resources to help Libyans.
“As of now Türkiye has dispatched three aircraft and three ships as part of humanitarian aid for flood-battered Libya,” said Erdogan, addressing an urban transformation and earthquake forum in Istanbul.
“Our assistance to our Libyan brothers and sisters will continue uninterruptedly to help them overcome these difficult days in a short time,” he added.
At least 6,000 people were killed and thousands of others remain missing due to last weekend’s floods in eastern Libya, according to official figures.
Torrential rains and flooding from Storm Daniel swept several areas on Sunday in eastern Libya, most notably Benghazi, Al-Bayda, and Al-Marj, as well as Soussa and Derna.
– Legislation to make Turkey quake resistant
Erdogan also said Turkey will step up work to make the country earthquake resistant.
The aim of earthquake legislation is “to establish the legal infrastructure that will carry out urban transformation in the healthiest, fastest, and fairest way against the reality of earthquakes,” he said.
“From now on, we need to carry out the work by acknowledging all 81 provinces of our country as earthquake zones,” Erdogan added.
Following the Feb. 6 earthquakes in southern Turkey, Erdogan said the country is rebuilding an earthquake-hit area as big as a mid-size country.
Türkiye is among the world’s most seismically active zones. In February, strong earthquakes in southeastern Turkey killed more than 50,000 people.
In 1999, a strong quake hit northwestern Turkey, claiming more than 18,000 lives.