After the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that occurred 39 seconds apart in VENEZUELA, AFAD teams and TAF DAK Team, who participated in search and rescue activities, returned to the country.
Following the two earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude that occurred in Venezuela on June 24, AFAD teams and the Turkish Armed Forces DAK team returned to the country after completing search and rescue activities in the earthquake region where more than 4,500 people lost their lives. The A400M cargo plane belonging to the Ministry of National Defense, carrying the personnel, returned to the country today and landed at Mürted Airport. The teams were welcomed by Land Forces Logistics Commander Major General Sinan Eren.
Infantry Major Yener Çamurlu, who served for 2 weeks during the earthquake in Venezuela, stated that they went to the region in accordance with the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler. Explaining that they traveled 12 thousand kilometers, Çamurlu said that they were very happy to help the people of Venezuela and said, "Our own special equipment and our own personnel were very valuable in this context. We did very good work there. At the same time, we supported not only our own but also other world search and rescue teams with our own local and national behind-the-wall radars."
Underlining that they benefited greatly from well-trained search and rescue dogs, Çamurlu said, "We conveyed our best wishes to the Venezuelan people on behalf of the Turkish nation. They welcomed us warmly and we helped them as much as we could. We are very proud to have successfully completed this mission."
Infantry Senior Sergeant Oktay Türkay also said that they continued search and rescue activities with their team members in 12-hour shifts in Venezuela and said, "The people of Venezuela nicknamed us 'Turks who never interpret' because of these search and rescue activities. This made us proud."
Türkay stated that he believes that this union with Venezuela creates a bond of brotherhood beyond just normal interstate relations.