Turkish Foreign Minister Conducts Intense Diplomatic Traffic After Deadly Quakes

As condolences poured in and countries mobilized support, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has been engaged in intense diplomatic contacts since the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes in southern Trkiye

ANKARA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Mar, 2023 ) :As condolences poured in and countries mobilized support, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has been engaged in intense diplomatic contacts since the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes in southern Trkiye.

Cavusoglu has held 23 meetings and more than 70 phone calls with ministers, foreign diplomats, and senior representatives of international organizations.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces � Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes, while the death toll is now over 44,200.

Cavusoglu met with Tahsin Ertugruloglu, foreign minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), on Feb. 9, followed by meetings with Martin Griffiths, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, on Feb.

10 and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on Feb. 11.

On Feb. 12, Cavusoglu met his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias in the quake-hit Hatay province, where he thanked Greece for its support during "such difficult times." On Feb. 13, Cavusoglu held separate talks Equatorial Guinea Foreign Minister Angue Simeon and Libya's Najla Elmangoush in the capital Ankara.

In a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen in Ankara on Feb. 14, Cavusoglu praised Israel's "serious" support in search and rescue efforts in Kahramanmaras.

"Israel is one of the first countries that sent support to T�rkiye," said Cavusoglu.

On the same day, Cavusoglu held a meeting with Nechirvan Barzani, head of northern Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).