Taiwanese made donations to a Turkish NGO that sent a rescue team to the island after disastrous 1999 earthquake

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/29
By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s donations to a Turkish disaster rescue organization after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook Turkey last week evoke the friendship established between the peoples of the two countries two decades ago.

The earthquake, which struck the eastern Turkish province of Elazig last Friday (Jan. 24), killed 41 people and injured more than 1,600, according to the country’s disaster relief agency. The AKUT Association, a non-governmental organization that conducts search-and-rescue operations during disasters, mobilized 126 volunteers and four dogs after the quake, rescuing eight people and discovering three bodies.

The association was reportedly amazed to have received a large number of donations from Taiwan after the quake as well as messages from Taiwanese on social media. Taiwan was the next largest source of donations after Turkey, said AKUT Secretary-General Zeynep Aktosun, expressing her appreciation for the Taiwanese people.

Aktosun noted that some Taiwanese had even translated the donation information from Turkish into Chinese so that others could donate more easily. Donations are very important for the organization, but the messages from Taiwan have offered even more encouragement to the team, said Aktosun, adding that some volunteers were moved to tears after reading them.    [FULL  STORY]