The United Kingdom is deploying emergency response teams to Turkey to support ongoing rescue efforts in the wake of the recent earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.5, along with subsequent aftershocks.
A team of highly skilled experts will be deployed to the affected region in Turkey to offer assistance on the ground.
A flight, scheduled to depart from the UK at 4 PM, is expected to arrive in Gaziantep at around 9 PM local time.
The United Kingdom is responding to the request for support from the Turkish government and will be providing assistance through its International Search and Rescue team. This team is equipped with specialised search equipment, including seismic listening devices, concrete cutting and breaking equipment, and propping and shoring tools.
In northwest Syria, the UK-aid funded organisation, the White Helmets, have activated their search and rescue response and mobilized all available resources to meet emerging needs.
The British government remains in contact with British humanitarian workers in the affected areas and stands ready to provide support to any British nationals who may be impacted.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:
“The UK is sending immediate support to Türkiye including a team of 76 search and rescue specialists, equipment and rescue dogs. In Syria, the UK-funded White Helmets have mobilised their resources to respond. We stand ready to provide further support as needed.”
More on this as it develops.
Great that we have this and on standby well done to those who help. Where would they fly to Ankara or somewhere closer? Do they bring their own (light) vehicles?
Does our foreign aid pay for this as well. Do they pay for standby services?
The UKISAR team is made up of 15 UK Fire & Rescue Services. Each service contributes equipment and personnel. All responders are volunteers and are not paid either for deployments or standby.
These will be our own search and rescue specialists volunteering to support. The UK search and rescue service is quite complex and based around the search and rescue framework. The SARUK framework is paralleled structure to the civil contingencies. It has a crossover with international law as it covers air, Sea and inland. It covers three government departments MOD, DfT and cabinet office. With lots of organisations..police, fire and rescue, ambulance, HM coast guard and a load of volunteer organisations RNLI, and a ton of inland SAR Teams overseen by Mountain rescue England and wales, mountain rescue committee Scotland, British… Read more »
Thank you. 👍
No worries I do love talking civil contingencies…sad really.
Civil contingencies are to you what Lord of the Rings is to me ! 😃😃
Precious?
Trust me I speak from long experience you don’t want to get me started.
Ooh, another. Me too David. Our house is called “Rivendell”
Arise
Arise riders of Theoden
Spears shall be shaken
Shields shall be splintered
A sword day
A red day
Ere the sun rises
Return of the King: The Ride of the Rohirrim [4K]
Mate…when I first saw that scene and the subsequent cavalry charge into panicking scums ranks I was in tears.
Although I was crap on the Mastermind episode with LOTR as a subject, which my wife taped for me Monday night. I got 3….🙄
Unless we swap private emails I’ll happily be chatting in LOTR forever more, so best change subject!
👍👍
I do like a bit of Lord of the rings as well mind. Favourite book when I was at school.
👍👍
Good post and Info, thanks J.
I’m making 80 US dollars for every hr. to finish some internet providers from home. I absolutely never thought it would try and be reachable anyway. My comrade mate got $13k just in about a month effectively doing this best task and furthermore she persuaded me to profit. Look at additional subtleties going to
this article.. https://Americanliberty7.blogspot.com
No, the UK International Search & Rescue (UKISAR) team deploy with 15-20 tonnes of equipment and at least 4 search canines, but no vehicles. They will work closely with the Local Emergency Management Authority (LEMA) in Country in terms of supporting local and international Urban Search & Rescue Teams on the ground.
Syria not worth a mention ? 😎
White helmets. The Syrian Govt would be slightly less welcoming to RAF aircraft landing on it’s territory than the Turks.
Not to mention British citizens coming as volunteers into turkey would be welcomed by the whole population and safe ( well the role is a bit unsafe). HMG could never confirm the safety of British nationals in Syria, infact they would be at active risk of being killed by some of the individuals they had come to help. Sad world really, when some people actively target humanitarian efforts and people dedicated to saving lives.
Syria will be ok. They have the Russians to help🙈
This is a horrible tragedy, and one for us to come together to help our fellow humans in Turkey, Syria and any other affected areas.
I know there is a lot of anger towards Turkey withholding their OK for Sweden’s NATO entry, but let us remember that that action is performed by Erdogan, while this earthquake is affecting everyone.
Let not our anger towards Erdogan colour our response towards everyone in Turkey who are suffering.
Erdogan is an (insert expletive) but Turkey is still a NATO member and ally. Mostly.
I don’t think anyone mentioned not helping…sadly we cannot send volunteers to Syria as they would be a target.
Not here, the crowd is thankfully more mature. But elsewhere on other defence forums, there were some people opining that aid should be linked to Turkey’s OK for Sweden’s vote. Fortunately, even there, the majority put down such commenters.
BTW, interesting comment above about the UK SAR framework. Why not ask George Allison if you can do a guest article about this for UKDJ?
Meanwhile Russian social media… there are a load of people there actively gloating at the death a destruction. Yes, the Russian state has offered to send help, but the environment they’ve nurtured amongst their population is vitriolic to say the least.
Maybe this will reaction will help wake Turkey up to who their real friends are.*
*Of course, and it shouldn’t need to be said, it would be better if that happened without this disaster and tragedy.
Ironically Turkey has requested NATO assistance, this is being handled by the Disaster Response Coordination Centre at NATO HQ in Brussels.
I wonder if Sweden is sending anyone?
They were amongst the first offers I saw being reported.
No that I want to be fair to Erdogan or Turkey’s position in general however playing devils advocate they kind of have a point. Swedens been quite happy to be a neutral right through the Cold War and largely enjoyed a free ride of the back of NATO security guarantees in Europe. At the same time it’s taken it’s own “moral position” including putting Turkey under sanctions. Now the rules of the game have changed it desperately wants in to NATO but it’s been pretty hostile to a key NATO member for quite some time. It’s not surprising Erdogan is… Read more »
So after being neutral during the Cold War, Sweden finally sees the error of its ways. Good, the more in NATO the stronger it is. And we don’t want another Ukraine situation arising, which remains a possibility while Finland and Sweden are outside NATO. As for Swedens moral position. Well the whole of the EU, U.K., and USA have recognised the Armenian Genocide, a fact Erdogan and Turkey still deny. There are accusations that even today Turkey is destroying historic Christian sites in the east of the country. Then in Syria it undermined the efforts of the West to defeat… Read more »
Good points, but as the UK is finding out post Brexit when it comes to getting things from other countries even “friendly” countries can be quite brutal. If your Turkey and your extending something like an article 5 guarantee to another country it may well stick in your your throat that this country has you under sanctions and harbours what you deem to be terrorists. As I said I don’t agree with it and I would take Sweden in NATO at the cost of kicking Turkey out any day. Indeed I would probably kick Turkey out anyway given their transgressions.… Read more »
International negotiations are like all contracts, you have to give and take. If you go for a zero-sum game then you’re not going to get very far. Even the EU appears to be realising that with its overly zealous enforcement of checks on goods to NI. I think Edogan is using Sweden as a patsy for ‘tough guy standing up to foreigners’ ahead of this years presidential election. If Turkey was playing smart, it would allow Sweden in, and next time Kurdish terrorists launched an attack invoke Article V (as the US did after 9/11). That would put pressure in… Read more »
The best of humanity coming out in the worst of circumstances. Good to see UK and others offering rapid assistance and helping hands. Truly shocking seeing all those buildings collapsing on the spot and with people inside! Enough to make your feel some compassion even for your enemies and all the ordinary people that suffer the hardest. 🇦🇺 🇬🇧 🇹🇷 🌎 🌍
There’s quite a few local takeaways I noticed today that have started to organise donations, asking in particular for baby food/nappies, warmth items and dried foods. So if people want to help get into contact with there local.
Said it before. Use some of the Foriegn Aid budget to pay for equipment and people that can be duel use.
Instead of flogging off all the Hercules, move them across to the Aid budget and have them painted white for use to diasters. Useful for less developed areas in distress. Build a new helicopter carrier/amphib.
Contributes to both soft and hard power.
I saw a photo of a poor man holding the hand of his dead daughter with her body still under the collasped house. I can’t even comprehend his hurt.
why the f are we calling it Turkiye???
Straight from Le Monde: Headline is
Plus de 7 300 morts en Turquie et en Syrie après les séismes, le froid ralentit la recherche de survivants
Translated =
More than 7,300 dead in Turkey and Syria after earthquakes, cold slows search for survivors
Would you ever conceive the french calling ‘Turquie’ – ‘Turkiye’ – No! Because it’s their language and their not going to be dictated to by another country about how they will speak their own language.
They want us to. Next the French will want us to say – Par-eee for Paris.
Thanks for all of this information. Does anyone know why search and rescue teams aren’t paid by the governments / institutions that deploy them? Is it because it creates ethical issues?