Why More Aid Was Provided to Turkey Than Syria: Pambukhchyan Responds

In the wake of the earthquake, humanitarian assistance has been dispatched to Syria and Turkey, taking into account the needs of the countries. After a government meeting, Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchyan spoke with reporters, responding to a question about why Armenia sent 30 and 25 tons of aid to Syria, while only 100 tons were sent as initial aid to Turkey.

“The assistance was sent according to the specified needs. A total of 180 tons has been dispatched to both countries,” Pambukhchyan said. He did not disclose how many tons the cargo that arrived in Turkey the previous day contained. In total, 158 million drams from the Armenian government’s reserve fund has been allocated for earthquake-affected Syria and Turkey.

Pambukhchyan noted that the Armenian rescuers sent to both countries have completed their work. When asked whether they have any expectations from Turkey that its attitude toward Armenia would change after the humanitarian aid, he replied that Armenia is fulfilling its humanitarian duties and could not comment further on the matter.

Responding to another question about whether humanitarian aid has been sent to Artsakh, which is under blockade, through the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Pambukhchyan stated that no aid had been sent. However, he reminded that about a month ago, the Armenian government allocated an additional 4 billion drams to Artsakh.

It should be noted that Armenia sent its first humanitarian aid to Syria on February 8, comprising 30 tons. On February 14, it was announced that another 25 tons would be dispatched. In Turkey's case, during negotiations with Armenia on February 11, Turkish representative Serdar Kılıç tweeted that the first 100 tons of aid from Armenia had arrived in Adıyaman. On February 15, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan announced that the second batch of humanitarian aid was sent to Turkey. However, there is no information regarding the quantity of this shipment.