German and Austrian rescue teams working in Turkey’s Hatay province, the worst hit by this week’s earthquakes that have devastated southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, announced Saturday that they are suspending their operations due to increased threats to the safety of their members, either because of growing tension among the local population over the slow arrival of aid or because of sporadic clashes between armed groups.
«In the last few hours, the security situation in Hatay province has worsened,» the German Federal Agency for Technical Assistance and the humanitarian organization I.S.A.R. Germany said in a joint statement reported by DPA.
Their teams are now at a joint base in the city of Kirikhan and in the midst of a tense situation which they attribute to, among other factors, «a shortage of food and problems in the supply of water to the quake-affected area».
«Grief is slowly giving way to anger,» warned I.S.A.R.’s director of operations, Steven Bayer. However, both organizations have assured that they will reactivate their teams if they receive information that there are survivors under the rubble.
Hours earlier, the Austrian Army also announced the suspension of its rescue operations in Hatay, this time after clashes between unidentified armed groups.
«The aggression between factions in Turkey is increasing,» Colonel Pierre Kugelweis told the official Austrian news agency APA, after acknowledging that he had received reports of gunfire in the area.
Hatay is the province worst hit by the earthquake in Turkey, bordering northwestern Syria, where some 900 people have died and more than 1,200 buildings have been destroyed, according to the Turkish government. It is also home to some 400,000 Syrian refugees from the war in the neighboring country.
Although the army does not identify these groups, the province has been the scene of occasional clashes between the Turkish army and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been at war with Ankara for decades.
«The success of saving lives bears no reasonable relation to the security risks,» added the colonel, heading a contingent of 82 military rescuers.
However, he also wanted to point out that there has been no direct attack on the mission, which will remain in place until the situation improves. «The circumstances are what they are,» he said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
