The Presidential Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina arrived in Istanbul on Friday upon the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for a working visit, marking the latest in a flurry of state officials from around the world making the trip to Türkiye in the wake of the Feb. 6 earthquakes.
Erdoğan and Croat member Zeljko Komsic, Serb member Zeljka Cvijanovic and Bosniak member Denis Becirovic held a closed-door meeting at the Vahdettin Mansion, according to the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications.
Neither side didn’t make a statement following the meeting.
The flow of condolences and humanitarian aid to Türkiye’s disaster zone, including from Bosnia-Herzegovina, has not ceased since the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes struck Kahramanmaraş province earlier this month and claimed more than 43,000 lives across 10 surrounding areas.
Some Bosnian council members previously phoned in or traveled to the country to extend condolences over the deadly tremors.
“Bosnians will stand with Türkiye in this terrible disaster,” Bosnian Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic said last week during a visit to Ankara. “We are not a very powerful or big country, but Bosnians have a big heart, and our people once again showed that they are with the Turkish people in this crisis.”
Indeed, the Balkan country dispatched 148 crews consisting of rescuers and volunteers to the region immediately after the earthquakes. At the same time, Bosnians and Turkish nationals residing in Sarajevo launched donation campaigns for food, equipment and clothes for the victims, sending 50 trucks laden with heaters, tents, beds, containers, blankets, food supplies and hygiene products.
This week, Bosnian authorities said they were preparing to send 55 more trucks and that 573 containers were already shipped to the region via railway to offer shelter.
Some 200 Bosnian first responders managed to save at least 26 people from the rubble during their time in the earthquake-stricken cities.
Source : Daily Sabah
