GAZIANTEP: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today expressed his pride in the efficiency and high level of professionalism displayed by the Malaysian search and rescue (SAR) team in helping earthquake victims in Nurdagi, here.
He said the Malaysian SAR team comprising members of the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart), Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Force, and Malaysian armed forces Royal Medical Corps stationed in Nurdagi had shown extraordinary capability with efforts that the nation can be proud of.
"I'm so proud of our team who have shown the extraordinary capability, making extraordinary sacrifices.
"The (Nurdagi) governor and governor representatives here also said that our team has shown an extraordinary level of dedication. On behalf of all Malaysians, I would like to convey our appreciation and we pray to Allah SWT to ease the burden of the people here, and that we (Malaysia) will do our level best to help."
Anwar said this to reporters after visiting the Malaysian SAR team camp at Nurdagi Stadium here on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Anwar said Malaysia had successfully raised RM30 million in relief funds for Turkiye and that he would meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to present the aid and convey Malaysia's condolences and sympathies to the victims.
Earlier, Anwar spent about 40 minutes visiting the camp.
He arrived here at 9am local time (2pm Malaysia), accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, and was welcomed by Malaysian SAR contingent deputy commander Safrizan Suhaini and MAS-10 team leader Abdul Manaf Che Isa.
The prime minister was also given a briefing on the team's operations by Safizan before being led to meet Frankie and Denti, the two tracker dogs flown all the way from Malaysia.
Anwar also brought cheer to the camp when he sportingly agreed to join the team on the field and pose for group pictures with the rescuers. — Bernama