Street in Türkiye's earthquake-hit Adıyaman to bear Azerbaijan’s name

A street in the Turkish city of Adıyaman, one of the areas most severely affected by the earthquake, is to be named in honour of Azerbaijan.

The announcement was made by President of the Türkiye-Azerbaijan Businessmen and Industrialists Union (TUIB) Huseyin Buyukfirat, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Buyukfirat underlined that Azerbaijan provided substantial assistance in the reconstruction of the region following the devastating earthquake that struck Türkiye on February 6, 2023, with Adıyaman among the hardest-hit cities.

“After the earthquake, all life in Adıyaman came to a standstill, and the city centre was in ruins. As part of the ‘Brotherly Assistance’ project, aid was delivered from Azerbaijan by trucks. The people of Adıyaman have not forgotten this, and as a sign of respect for the brotherly nation, it was decided to name one of the central streets after Azerbaijan,” Buyukfirat said.

To recall, Azerbaijan became the first country to dispatch a search and rescue team to the region, consisting of almost 900 personnel and several rescue dogs. In order to assist with the reconstruction efforts, the Azerbaijani government is financially supporting the construction of a residential district in Kahramanmaraş, called the "Azerbaijani Quarter."

Several powerful tremors with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 occured on February 6, 2023 with their epicenter in the Southern province of Kahramanmaraş. They were felt in 11 Turkish provinces and neighboring countries. The devastating earthquakes lasted 105 seconds and caused an immense damage to the areas. 

They have claimed a total of 53,537 lives only in Türkiye and injured over 107,000 people while over 39,000 buildings were destroyed in the South of the country. The immense toll of lives lost in the catastrophe has led Turkish authorities to refer to the earthquake as Türkiye's "disaster of the century."

By Vafa Guliyeva