Canada extends further humanitarian assistance to the earthquake-hit Turkey. The Defence Minister of Canada conveyed that approximately 125 pallets of humanitarian aid will be supplied to Turkey on 3rd May, 23. Anita Anand tweeted,
“The people of Turkiye are still feeling the effects of the devastating earthquakes. Via a contracted flight that arrived recently, we arranged for the delivery of approximately 125 pallets of humanitarian aid, coordinated through the Canadian Textile Industry Association.”
This humanitarian aid will strengthen the relationship between the two nations. Read on to discover what happened in Turkey and how netizens from Canada are reacting to this tweet.
Earthquake Hits Turkey
Turkey was hit by one of the largest earthquakes of 7.8 magnitudes on the Richter scale on 06th February 2023. The city of Gaziantep was considered as the epicentre of the earthquake.
This was the largest earthquake since 1939. Many minor earthquakes which were the aftermath of the same were experienced throughout the country in the following days.
The earthquakes resulted in widespread damage to cities and villages in Turkey. Numerous skyscrapers were reduced to bags of dust with thousands of people trapped under the debris. The estimated damage of 350000 square km was observed during the earthquake.
A massive death toll of around 60,000 was reported from Turkey. About 1.5 million Turkish were left without shelter due to the natural disaster. It was considered the fifth worst earthquake of this century.
Many nations quickly responded to the disaster and extended aid to Turkey.
The USA, Canada, UK, and India were among the first responders to the crisis and rescue operations greatly helped in the reduction of the casualties number.
Canada-Turkey Relationship
Canada and Turkey have a longstanding friendship dating back to 1947 when both countries established their embassies in either nation.
Both nations are part of several international organizations such as the G20, World Trade Organisation, and Pacific Alliance and have also signed numerous bilateral agreements that cover economics and the military.
As trade partners both nations have been involved in extensive trade.
Canada has a direct investment of over $ 2 billion in Turkey. Turkey is Canada’s 26th largest trading country and is considered an emerging friend.
Canada considered Turkey as the 11th best nation for education and is one of the 11 educational market priorities. Both nations conducted the first annual Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting in 2019.
The meeting was held in Istanbul, Turkey. Both nations are part of NATO and undertake numerous joint military exercises.
Netizens React to Aid
Twitter witnessed a mixed reaction to the tweet from the Defence Minister. Many of the netizens appreciated the humanitarian aid and applauded Anita Anand for her efforts to bring up good friendly foreign relationships.
However, few netizens reacted negatively to the Tweet. Netizens questioned the quantity of 125 humanitarian kits viz the billions of dollars being expended in Ukraine to aid the latter in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The netizens also requested the Defence Minister to support peace and stop all aid to Ukraine.
So what is your response to the tweet? Do you think the efforts of Anita Anand, Defence Minister of Canada bring out further foreign investments and better international relationships? Let us know in the comments.
Last Updated on by Sanjana