cargo-partner supports earthquake relief efforts in Türkiye
As Türkiye is still working on rebuilding and recovering from the earthquakes that hit the country in early February, cargo-partner has taken active steps to support local relief activities.
The disastrous earthquakes that took place in Türkiye and Syria on February 6, 2023, cost more than 50,000 lives, destroyed thousands of homes and wreaked havoc on the local infrastructure, leaving many people homeless and cut off from vital resources. Upon learning of the disaster and its violent impact, cargo-partner’s management in Türkiye, together with the company’s Executive Board, immediately began to explore opportunities to support local rescue efforts and relief actions.
“In disaster situations like this, fast reactions are crucial,” said Kursad Tanriverdi, Managing Director of cargo-partner in Türkiye. “This is why we acted immediately, but not without coordinating our efforts with approved charity and non-profit organizations to guarantee that our help would go where it was needed the most.”
As a first step, the company prepared several trucks to deliver urgently needed goods such as water, food, blankets and hygiene products to the severely affected cities of Adana and Antakya. Within only a few days after the earthquake, the company had dispatched 14 trucks with relief goods, including 20 container houses, 20 disaster tents, electric generators and tools, mattresses and blankets, bottled water and various foodstuffs. As cargo-partner is among the strongest freight forwarders in the south of Türkiye, the company made use of its own local network and expertise to ensure the fast and reliable delivery of these urgently needed relief goods.
Reaching out for further opportunities to help, the logistics provider cooperated with Advantage Austria Türkiye to support the dispatch of an Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit (AFDRU) contingent to Adana. The contingent included military personnel, engineers, emergency doctors, psychologists, an analysis laboratory and 25 tons of materials. cargo-partner supported the initiative by arranging a truck transport and liaising with the Adana Airport ground handling agent to unload the aircraft with the rescue equipment in Adana.
In addition to these initiatives led by cargo-partner’s management, many individual employees from all around the world wanted to offer help in the form of donations. To ensure that these funds would be used as effectively as possible, cargo-partner set up a dedicated account for employee donations. To date, cargo-partner has collected a total amount of around 200,000 euros donated by colleagues as well as the cargo-partner management. The gathered funds have been used to help those directly affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye as well as to support general relief activities.
But the company’s efforts did not stop there. One week after the first 14 trucks were dispatched, the company delivered more than 20 further container houses to various locations in some of the most severely affected areas. Finally, cargo-partner also organized the delivery of a 405 m² tent which was set up in the port city of Iskenderun in the south of Turkey. The tent now houses a kitchen as well as sleeping accommodations for people who have lost their homes in the earthquakes, and it is also used by doctors to provide medical check-ups.
Stefan Krauter, CEO of cargo-partner, expressed his condolences and reaffirmed his commitment to supporting further rebuilding efforts: “We were deeply saddened to learn of the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria and did not hesitate to reach out to help. Rebuilding is a long process, and there is still a lot of work ahead, but it is encouraging to see that so many have stepped up to help in this crisis, and I am grateful that we as cargo-partner have been able to contribute. We will continue to stay in close touch with our team in Türkiye to offer targeted support for as long as it is needed.”