Kochanova to Turkish Ambassador: Belarusians always empathise with tragedies that occur in the world
Belarus has always been and will remain together with the Turkish people – as stated by the Chairperson of the Council of the Republic, Natalya Kochanova, at her meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkiye to Belarus, Mustafa Ozcan
“I would primarily like to once again extend my condolences to all Turkish people, to you personally, to the President of your country in connection with the terrible tragedy that occurred in Turkiye. Believe me, Belarus sympathises and empathises with it. We have actually been living that tragedy, and you know that Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko was among the first to send condolences to Turkish President Recep Erdogan, giving immediate instructions to provide all possible assistance in eliminating the consequences of the earthquake. You know that Belarusians participated in the rescue of people, and they managed to save six lives. Our rescuers worked selflessly, as their Turkish colleagues said,” Ms. Kochanova told the diplomat. “Of course, we tried to provide all possible assistance to the Turkish people, but – most importantly – you should know that the Belarusian people are very peaceful. We always empathise with the tragedies that occur in the world, because we understand how scary it is when people die.”
According to Ms. Kochanova, warm relations have been established between Belarus and Turkiye. “Good relations have also developed between the leaders of our countries, the presidents of Belarus and Turkiye – and this stands high. In the modern world, we feel the support of the Turkish people, Turkiye in relation to Belarus – and we are grateful to you for that,” she said.
Ms. Kochanova added that good relations have developed between the two states’ parliamentarians as well, “Our MPs attended and participated in various events in Turkiye, and we also invite Turkish parliamentarians to visit Belarus – so that our co-operation will be even closer. I would like to take this opportunity today to express gratitude to our colleagues, Turkish parliamentarians, for supporting the Republic of Belarus on international platforms. It is very important for us.”
The Chairperson of the Council of the Republic noted that the development of bilateral relations will, as before, take place absolutely in all directions, “We are grateful that in these difficult conditions for Belarus, when unprecedented sanctions pressure is exerted on us, you have lent your shoulder, and we are now building many logistics chains through your country.”
In turn, Mr. Ozcan said that Turkiye is going through a difficult time at present. He thanked Belarus for support, “Our countries enjoy well-established, very sincere and friendly relations based on mutual respect and understanding. Of course, life is full of bright and dark days, but we are able to survive these dark times when we have mutual understanding and solidarity.”
The diplomat noted that a series of powerful earthquakes in Turkiye became a real shock for the country, “On February 6th, two very strong earthquakes occurred, followed by thousands of aftershocks. In terms of their force, they are comparable to the explosion of a dozen atomic bombs. It is easy to imagine the scale: our country has shifted in a westerly direction by 4-5 metres. The territory affected by the earthquake is comparable in area to the United Kingdom. The earthquake directly affected 14m people, which is even more than the population of Belarus. It is already known that 45 thousand Turkish citizens died, and hundreds of thousands were injured.”
