Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad hailed, on Friday, from the disaster-stricken locality of Bustan Al Qasr in Aleppo, the efforts of Algerian teams of the Civil Protection and the Algerian Red Crescent (ARC) currently operating in Syria to take part in rescue and search operations for missing persons following the earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey last Monday, killing more than 21,000 people for the moment.
In a statement to the Algerian television crew in Syria, during a visit to this locality to assess the damage caused by the earthquake, the Syrian President said “I belong to a generation that learned at a very young age at school that Algeria is the country of the million and a half martyrs, and to whom it was explained how Syrian women had sold their valuables in order to buy aid to be sent to the Algerians” during the liberation war.
The relationship between Algeria and Syria is based on “Syria’s support for Algeria” during the War of National Liberation, as well as on “Algeria’s support for decades for the Arab and Syrian causes”, he said, adding that “it is not surprising to see this relationship demonstrated in this glorious way through this impressive show of solidarity”.
“We feel that the Algerians have come from deep inside Syria to help the Syrians,” said the Syrian President. “This is the sincere feeling we have always had towards the Algerians,” he added.
The Syrian President exchanged views with the Algerian Civil Defence search and rescue units in Bustan Al-Qasr to participate in the search and rescue operations. In this locality of Aleppo, the actions of the Algerian Civil Protection units enabled 34 lifeless bodies to be removed from the rubble and one person to be saved.
The president of the Algerian Red Crescent, Ibtissem Hamlaoui, discussions are underway with the Syrian and Turkish Red Crescents to determine the real needs of both countries.
