At the joint press statement following the meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, on behalf of Armenia, once again expressed his condolences to the families of the thousands of people who died in the devastating earthquake, the people and Government of Turkey, and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.
“One of the bitterest pages of the history of my nation is the devastating Spitak earthquake of 1988, and today the sorrow which befell upon thousands of families in Turkey is not unfamiliar to us. Such natural disasters and their volumes go beyond the borders of countries, becoming global tragedies. And the world must act with a united front to overcome them.
I believe that the international community must not remain indifferent towards any humanitarian crisis happening anywhere around the globe,” Mirzoyan said.
Mirzoyan said that it was by this very principle that immediately after the devastating earthquake the government of Armenia made a decision to send rescuers and humanitarian aid to Turkey.
“I thank Mr. Çavuşoğlu for his words of appreciation addressed to our rescuers and overall the Armenian presence and support.
I am very happy that our rescuers were able to save lives in cooperation with their partners,” the Armenian Foreign Minister said.
Mirzoyan also considered it symbolic that the Armenian-Turkish border, which had been closed for 30 years, was opened for Armenian trucks loaded with humanitarian aid going to Adıyaman.
