YEREVAN. Feb 7 (Interfax) - Armenia is sending rescue units to Syria and Turkey to assist in search-and-rescue operations in quake-stricken areas, Armenian Foreign Ministry press secretary Vahan Hunanyan said.
"Today, the Republic of Armenia is sending rescue units to Syria and Turkey to assist in the search-and-rescue operations in the areas hit by a devastating earthquake," Hunanyan said on social media.
Strong quakes that hit Turkey in the small hours of Monday and their aftershocks caused substantial damage to several provinces of the country and neighboring Syria. According to the latest update, about 5,000 people have been killed in the natural calamity in both countries.
Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations and their joint border has been closed since 1993 at Ankara's initiative over the conflict in Karabakh. The first meeting of their special representatives took place in Moscow on January 14 of this year. On July 1, the Armenian and Turkish special representatives for the normalization of bilateral relations, Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic, respectively, met in Vienna and agreed to ensure as early as possible the possibility of crossing the Armenian-Turkish land border by third-country citizens and to launch direct cargo flights between Armenia and Turkey.