Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri travelled on Monday to both Syria and Türkiye, on a visit aimed at conveying a message of solidarity from Egypt to the two countries and their peoples, following the catastrophe of the February 6 earthquake which inflicted heavy losses in the two countries.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received Minister Shoukri and expressed profound appreciation for the initiative of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to contact him over phone after the earthquake, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a tweet reported by the Middle East News Agency (MENA).
“The Syrian president highly appreciates the brotherly feelings he felt during the call,” spokesman Abu Zeid wrote.
The Syrian president also expressed thanks to Egypt and its great people for hosting the Syrian refugees on its lands and for treating them kindly as brothers, the spokesman added.
At a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Miqdad, Foreign Minister Shoukri affirmed that Egypt’s leadership, government, and people stand by the Syrian people in order to confront the ordeal they are going through, following the devastating earthquake that claimed thousands of lives.
He stressed Egypt’s full readiness with all its resources to provide all necessary means to provide humanitarian support to the Syrian people, in full coordination with the Syrian government, according to priorities to counter the effects of this earthquake in the country, MENA reported in a dispatch from Damascus.
Egypt, he added, has provided the Syrian people with more than 1,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid to face the effects of the earthquake, pointing out that efforts will be intensified by Egypt to provide aid.
He also said that Egypt is always working to confront the challenges facing the Syrian people, and looks forward to Syria overcoming the effects of the devastating earthquake.
Minister Shoukri later travelled to Türkiye where he and his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu attended the delivery of an Egyptian aid shipment at the port of Mersin.
Speaking to a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart following the aid shipment delivery, Minister Shoukri said the move comes within the framework of Egypt’s keenness to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the earthquake that struck Türkiye, noting that there are directives for give priority to the passage of aid ships through the Suez Canal.
He pointed out that Egypt will continue this support and facilitate aid destined for Türkiye by giving it priority passage through the Suez Canal, and this is a result of the strength of the relation between the Egyptian and Turkish peoples.
The Turkish foreign minister praised Egypt’s role and support for Türkiye in the earthquake disaster.
“We appreciate Egypt’s stance on our side after the earthquake disaster, and we seek to open a new page of relations with Egypt,” he said.
He added that friendship and fraternity are evident in difficult days, saying that Egypt is an important country for the Middle East region and for the whole world.
