Turkish President visits quake survivors in VanNovember 6, 2011 - 17:31 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived in Van to celebrate the Kurban Bayram holiday with quake survivors and take part in bayram prayers with locals. “These are days that make holidays more meaningful,” Gul said. “These are times when we all should help and embrace each other as brothers and sisters,” Hurriyet reported. The 2011 Van earthquake was a destructive magnitude 7.1 Mw earthquake that struck eastern Turkey near the city of Van on Sunday, 23 October 2011. It occurred at a shallow depth of 20 km, causing heavy shaking across much of eastern Turkey and was felt across neighbouring parts of the South Caucasus and Levant. According to Disasters and Emergency Situations Directorate of Turkey AFAD, as of October 30, the number of casualties reached 601, and those injured- 4152. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |