President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov presented state awards to the rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, who carried out search and rescue operations after the earthquake in Turkey. Press service of the head of state reported.
«Our people have great confidence that you are ready day and night to save human lives in various situations and prevent possible natural disasters,» Sadyr Japarov said at a solemn event held on the occasion of the Day of Rescuer.
He recalled that in early February, due to an earthquake in several regions of Turkey, multi-storey buildings collapsed, killing thousands of people.
«The Kyrgyz Republic was in the forefront of those who extended a helping hand in such a difficult situation. On the day of the earthquake, 67 of our rescuers left for Turkey, followed by 110 more who reached the epicenter and came to the rescue with a special sense of brotherhood,» the president said.
He added that after 13 days, Kyrgyz rescuers found a family under the ruins.
For 15 days they had rescued eight people from the rubble and took out the bodies of 198 dead, handing them over to their relatives. When our rescuers were trying to save at least one person, thousands of sons and daughters of our country kept repeating: «We are with you, Turkey!», ready to help if necessary.
Sadyr Japarov
«The people of Kyrgyzstan could not sit still, wanting to help, they collected any aid to send it to the fraternal Turkish people. I also express my deep gratitude to all the people of Kyrgyzstan who did not show indifference to such a difficult test,» he said.
The head of state also noted that the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the republic performs its tasks at a high level. For six years it has been heading the executive committee of the International Civil Defense Organization, which includes 60 countries of the world.
«The reputation of the ministry at the international level is growing, every year mine rescuers and divers from dozens of countries come to the juniper and pine mountains of our republic, visiting the Kyrgyz pearl Issyk-Kul lake, learn from our specialists and improve their experience,» he said.
Sadyr Japarov also noted the contribution of the Ministry of Emergency Situations to the ecology of Issyk-Kul. He recalled that this year the divers cleaned the bottom of the lake from garbage and fishing nets of poachers and in less than four months removed about 96,000 meters of nets and cleared the lake from about 6 tons of garbage. This work is still ongoing.
