“If it is necessary to mobilize a new force again, Portugal has already made its availability known to the embassy,” said journalists José Luís Carneiro, who was present at the military terminal of Figo Maduro, in Lisbon, during the arrival ceremony of the Portuguese mission that was in Turkey since the 08th to support search and rescue operations after the earthquake and several aftershocks.
The Joint Operational Force (FOCON) – coordinated by the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) and consists of 52 members of the Special Civil Protection Force of ANEPC, GNR, Regiment of Sapadores Firefighters of Lisbon and National Institute of Medical Emergency ( INEM) and six dogs – was in Turkey through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
Therefore, a new Portuguese mission should also be framed within the same scope.
“As the European Civil Protection Mechanism and Emergency Response Coordination Centre [da União Europeia] at its discretion, Portugal will be available to mobilize a new support force for search and rescue and, if necessary, for the reconstruction itself,” the minister stressed.
Asked about how long the Portuguese team’s presence in Turkey lasted, José Luís Carneiro said that “the important thing is not how long the missions last, but what they mean”. year demonstrates the opportunity and utility”.
“This mission had a very important moment that was experienced with great emotion by all Portuguese, which was to save alive a 10-year-old child, and therefore it indelibly marks this international mission carried out by this special unit “, he specified, noting that the agents fulfilled “the essential”.
The minister expressed words of “deep appreciation and gratitude” to the elements of this force for the work done.
José Luís Carneiro also said that the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, would receive these elements at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, February 22, to give them “a special thank you”.
FOCON participated in relief operations in Turkey with valencies in search, rescue, protection and rescue in collapsed structures.
The arrival ceremony was attended by the Minister of National Defense, Helena Carreiras, and the Secretaries of State for Civil Protection, Patrícia Gaspar, and Health, Ricardo Mestre.
More than 44,000 people have died in Turkey after two massive earthquakes that hit the country and northern Syria on Feb. 6, authorities said today.
The earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale – with its epicenter on Turkish territory – was followed by several aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 7.5.
On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) increased the international request for financial aid for the victims of these earthquakes to 84.5 million dollars (79 million euros).
Source: DN
