Armenia's government allocated more than 157,000,000 Armenian drams (around 392,000 USD) from the reserve fund to the Ministry of Emergency Situations to compensate the expenditures of the relief aid sent to the countries affected by the earthquake.
“The humanitarian cargo was sent twice by air to Syria and twice by land to Turkey”, Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan said at the Cabinet sitting.
The rescuers sent to Syria have already returned, while those in Turkey are now on their way back.
"Our rescuers have returned from Syria, and even today our rescuers who left for Turkey are returning by land. You are also aware that yesterday the Foreign Minister visited Turkey, which I think is a very important and symbolic event.
I consider the criticisms directed at us absolutely unacceptable, because I cannot imagine any situation where millions of people just across the door need support in case of a natural disaster, and anyone can remain indifferent to it", Pashinyan said.
"This was an important humanitarian step on our part. The main topic of the visit and discussions was the earthquake, particularly the Armenian response, humanitarian aid, and the service of our rescuers. It received a positive response from the Turkish side", Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan added.
