Two large earthquakes impacted the South-Eastern Turkey region / Northern Syria region on 06-Feb and has caused catastrophic damage across 10 provinces in SE Turkey & across the border into Syria. Turkish Government declared a level-4 disaster & requested international support from UN, NATO & foreign governments. Search & Rescue teams flew into Turkey during the last week to assist wit the search for survivors. Government of Syria has also requested international aid and has opened several borders between Syria & Lebanon & Jordan for this purpose. One border crossing appears to be operational between Turkey & Syria.
TURKEY EQ 06 FEB 2023 SITREP V3 FEB 13TH
Logistics Sitrep 13 FEB 23
ER@priorityworldwide.com
Airport Access
TUR- Govt of Turkey sources now suggest that Antakya Hatay (HTY) airport is now open again after closing for damage. The airport at Maras (KCM) is also open again and domestic flights within Turkey have landed. AFAD Turkey (Gov agency) nominated Adana (ADA) and Gaziantep (GZT) airports as main international entry points for international aid & relief. Both aid flights and commercial scheduled flights are operating into these airports, however larger cargo flights are landing only at Adana (ADA), with Gaziantep having some runway restrictions for larger cargo aircraft. Widebody passenger flights are mostly operating into Adana, very few connections into Gaziantep with Turkish Airlines for example. There is an additional airport at Malatya (MLX) which is receiving some narrowbody pax aircraft as well as the possibility to handle mid-sized freighters.
SYR – Gov of Syria is allowing aid flights to land into Damascus (DAM) and Latakia (LTK) as main airports of entry. There are scheduled commercial flights from Iraq, Pakistan, UAE and Jordan/Lebanon amongst other origins.
International access directly into Syria is more challenging, there is known to be charter aircraft operators willing to fly from UAE directly into Syria pending approvals. It is more likely that air cargo coming from the West should be flown via Beirut/BEY and then moved overland into Syria via one of the border crossings. There are scheduled commercial and freighter options via Beirut from global origins.
Ocean Access
Damage reported at Iskenderun Port in Turkey and the port is said to be closed. Main port at Mersin remains operational, although is said to be having “operational challenges” as per our Turkey agent.
Overland Access
The earthquake has damaged highways and infrastructure across Southern Turkey and also into Northern Syria. There are some major highways with damages in the region and trucking is very slow, especially up to the Turkey/Syria border. Many Turkish trucks have been deployed to do local assistance as well. Access from Turkey to Syria is especially difficult since there is only one border crossing open as per reports, this is the border at Bab-Al-Haya. There are also reports of road conditions taking 24hrs + to truck from Mersin port into the area due to damage and congestion. Access from Lebanon & Jordan to Syria is likely the access route best chosen for trucking international aid into Syria. GOS has opened 5 border crossing points for international aid coming into Syria & has nominated points of contact for visa & customs processing for donor partners.
Customs Clearance
Turkish Directorate General for Customs has announced that all international aid cargo coming to Turkey in support of the EQ, provided consigned to government institutions, tax-exempt organisations, or public interest organisations, will be customs & duty exempted. Shipping document & packing list should suffice for clearance into Turkey. AFAD & other gov entities are suggested as organisations to consign to.
