Portugal is available to send a new support mission to Turkey, hit on February 6 by a strong earthquake, if necessary, the Interior Administration Minister said Saturday.
“If it is necessary to mobilize a new force, Portugal has already expressed its availability to the embassy,” José Luís Carneiro, who was present at the Figo Maduro military terminal in Lisbon, told reporters at the arrival ceremony of the Portuguese mission that has been in Turkey since 08 to support search and rescue operations after the earthquake and several aftershocks.
The Joint Operational Force (FOCON) – coordinated by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) and made up of 52 members of the ANEPC Special Civil Protection Force, GNR, Sapadores de Lisboa Fire Regiment and the National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM) and six dogs – was in Turkey through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
Therefore, a new Portuguese mission would also have to fall within the same scope.
“If the European Civil Protection Mechanism and the Emergency Response Coordination Center [da União Europeia] As it deems appropriate, 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 how long the presence of the Portuguese team in Turkey lasted, José Luís Carneiro said that “the important thing is not how long the missions last, but what they mean”, adding that “the fact of having saved a 10-year-old boy demonstrates the opportunity and usefulness”.
“This mission had a very significant moment that was lived with great emotion by all the Portuguese, that of rescuing a 10-year-old boy alive, for which this international mission carried out by this special force marks an indelible mark,” he specified, noting that the operatives fulfilled “the essentials”.
The minister transferred to the elements of this force words “of deep appreciation and gratitude” for the work done.
José Luís Carneiro also said that the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, would receive these elements on Wednesday, February 22, at 11:00 a.m., to give them “a special thank you.”
FOCON participated in relief operations in Turkey with valences in the areas of search, rescue, protection and relief 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 for Health, Ricardo Mestre.
More than 44,000 people died in Turkey after two powerful earthquakes struck the country and northern Syria on February 6, authorities said today.
The earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale -with its epicenter in Turkish territory- was followed by several aftershocks, one of them measuring 7.5.
The World Health Organization (WHO) raised this Friday to 84.5 million dollars (79 million euros) the international request for financial aid for those affected by these earthquakes.
Source: TSF
