By holding absentee prayers, sending rescue teams, and launching official and popular donation campaigns;
The Arab support turned into something like an "uprising" to support Turkey and Syria in order to confront the earthquake that struck them last Monday.
On that day, an earthquake of 7.8 degrees struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by another hours later with a magnitude of 7.6, in addition to hundreds of violent aftershocks.
This resulted in huge losses of lives and property in both countries.
The earthquake claimed more than 24,000 lives and left tens of thousands injured, and its effects spread to millions of people in the two countries.
Pictures of the unprecedented Arab support came yesterday, Friday, as follows:
Absentee prayer
Thousands of people performed absentee prayers in mosques in several Arab countries on Friday for the souls of the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.
According to Anatolia monitoring, this was done in the mosques of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, next to Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem, and “all mosques” of the Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan, and most regions of Lebanon - especially the capital, Beirut - next to the Yemeni city of Taiz (southwest), and the city of Afrin. (Northern Syria), and the Bin Nabi Mosque in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Bandar bin Abdulaziz Balila and Youssef Abu Sneina, the preachers of the Grand Mosque and Al-Aqsa Mosque, called on Muslims to support Turkey and Syria in facing the earthquake, calling for mercy for the dead and healing for the injured.
On Friday, the "Emirates Council for Legal Fatwa" called for urgent relief for those affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Official and popular donations
Arab donations at the official and popular levels witnessed a remarkable flow of support for Turkey and Syria in order to face the repercussions of the earthquake.
Yesterday, Friday, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, donated 50 million Qatari riyals ($14 million) for the earthquake-affected people in Turkey and Syria.
Yesterday, Friday, the volume of donations to the Qatari "Support and Help" campaign amounted to 168 million Qatari riyals (46 million dollars) on its first day on Qatar's official TV, in favor of the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Qatar TV (@qatartelevision)
In addition to the donations, Qatar lit up the landmarks of its capital, Doha, with the colors of the Turkish flag, in solidarity with the victims of the earthquake that struck the Turkish state of Kahramanmaraş.
On Friday, Algeria announced the allocation of $30 million in financial aid to Turkey and $15 million to Syria.
In implementation of the instructions of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
In Saudi Arabia, 679,830 people participated in a popular donation campaign through the governmental “Sahem” platform for relief from Syria and Turkey, with a total of 239,108,668 riyals ($63.718 million) as of Friday evening.
In Jordan, the Catholic churches announced on Friday the allocation of donations for the next Sunday Mass to help those affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
In Palestine, the Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Sheikh Hatem al-Bakri, told Anadolu Agency that "the proceeds of donations collected from mosques in the West Bank after Friday prayers amounted to about 3 million and 500 thousand shekels (about one million dollars)."
Relief bridges
In this context, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday evening that it would send a military field hospital to Kahramanmaraş, in addition to the start of sending land convoys to Syria and Turkey, to help cope with the effects of the earthquake that struck the two countries.
In Lebanon, Environment Minister Nasser Yassin announced on Friday that his country intends to send additional missions to Turkey to participate in relief work following the devastating earthquake that hit it.
Yesterday, Friday, 3 additional Saudi relief planes arrived in Turkey.
Bringing the total to 5, as part of an air bridge that the Kingdom conducted to contribute to the relief of those affected by the earthquake, in implementation of the directives of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
And last Thursday, two Saudi relief planes arrived in Turkey carrying "specialized ambulance and rescue teams and 98 tons of relief materials, including food baskets, tents, shelter bags and blankets, in addition to medical supplies."
In Kuwait, media outlets - including the official news agency KUNA - reported that today, "Saturday, an extensive campaign will be launched to collect donations for earthquake relief under the title "Kuwait is by your side", under the directives of the political leadership," without further details.
In Abu Dhabi, Emirates Airlines announced its intention to operate a humanitarian air bridge to support relief efforts in Turkey.
Yesterday, Friday, the Emirates Search and Rescue Team continued its relief work in Turkey to search for survivors under the rubble, traveling to "3 areas that are the most difficult in Kahramanmaraş Province (the epicenter) since the earthquake occurred."
As of last Thursday evening, the UAE announced the flight of 22 relief planes carrying 640 tons of aid, including 7 planes to Syria and 15 to Turkey, carrying search and rescue teams and a fully equipped mobile field hospital.
For its part, the Sudanese army announced on Friday that it had sent a humanitarian aid plane to Turkey to provide relief to those affected by the earthquake.
A statement issued by the army said that the plane also carried teams from the Civil Defense Forces of the Sudanese police, equipped with search and rescue equipment and aid.
In implementation of the directives of the President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the Armed Forces are sending aid and search and rescue teams to Turkey.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SD_armed_forces?t=-IdyUM0Z4Ge3rJjyh6sSIw&s=09 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCFuqvBGpM67TD5FLgXpWE3g
Posted by Sudanese Armed Forces on Friday, February 10, 2023
In the Sultanate of Oman, the Civil Defense and Ambulance Authority announced via Twitter on Friday that "its national team continues search and rescue operations with other international teams, and provides medical care to those affected by the earthquake in Turkey."
In Iraq, on Friday, the country's president, Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, made a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which he offered condolences, stressing Baghdad's solidarity with Ankara, according to the Iraqi presidency.
Global moves
Far from the Arab countries, absentee prayers were held after Friday prayers in the mosques of Germany, the Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro for the souls of the victims of the earthquake disaster that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria.
In Germany, the Turkish and Syrian communities launched donation campaigns to provide relief to those affected in the earthquake-hit areas.
In turn, the Mayor of London, Siddiq Khan, called on Friday to participate in donation campaigns in Britain for those affected by the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Khan said - in a tweet - that "Londoners continue to mobilize to help. Good to see mosques across our city collecting money after Friday prayers."
Sessions were also held to recite the Noble Qur’an and pray for the earthquake victims after Friday prayers in mosques in Somalia, Cameroon, South Africa, Sudan, Djibouti and Nigeria.
In the Latin American continent, absentee prayers were held in the Colombian capital, Bogota, for the souls of the earthquake victims that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria last Monday.