Prime minister says aid convoy dispatched to northern Iraq 

Turkey pledged its support to the victims of Sunday’s earthquake on the Iran-Iraq border, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Monday.

“Turkey stands with the brotherly victims of the earthquake,” Yildirim said in a statement.

The prime minister said the government had sent a convoy of medical and food aid and wished a speedy recovery to those affected.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry expressed Turkey’s “solidarity” with the people of Iran and Iraq.

It said Turkey was “greatly saddened” by casualties. “The Turkish people… are in solidarity with the people of Iran and Iraq,” the ministry said.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also spoke with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif over the phone on Monday, according to a diplomatic source.

Cavusoglu offered his condolences and said Turkey was ready to provide "all means of help" to Iran, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

Cavusoglu, speaking to reporters in Istanbul on Monday, said Turkey's two leading aid organizations would help earthquake victims in northern Iraq.

Deliveries would be carried out from the regional warehouses of the Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) and Turkey's Disaster Management Agency (AFAD), he said.

He also said medical teams from the health ministry were about to arrive in Sulaymaniyah province of northern Iraq.

Recalling Turkey's stance in the illegitimate referendum on independence for the Kurdish region of Iraq, Cavusoglu said now was the time for humanitarian support.

"...So far, we have made every kind of support to Iraqi people indiscriminately. We see them as our brothers," Cavusoglu said.

The 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit around 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of the Iraqi city of Halabja at 9.15 p.m. Iraqi time (1815GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported at least 328 people dead and around 4,000 others injured, with most casualties taking place in the city of Kermanshah. The death toll is expected to rise.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry said seven people were killed and 321 injured in the north of the country.

KRG thanks Turkey for aiding earthquake victims

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq

The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on Monday thanked Turkey for its swift response to help earthquake victims in northern Iraq.

“Special thanks to Turkey, AFAD [Turkey's Disaster Management Agency] and Red Crescent for their quick response and support,” KRG spokesman Safeen Dizayee said on Twitter.

Turkey rushed to help victims of a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that rocked the border area between Iraq and Iran on Sunday.

According to AFAD's Twitter account, 5,000 tents, 7,000 blankets, 92 personnel and 11 vehicles were dispatched to northern Iraq immediately after the tremor.

The quake has killed at least 328 people in Iran and seven others in Iraq.

For his part, Muhammed Nasih Hassan, governor of Darbandikhan, the most affected district in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province, praised the Turkish Red Crescent for helping the quake victims.

Hassan said the Darbandikhan Dam has been seriously affected by the quake.

“Two expert teams were dispatched to the dam from Erbil and Baghdad to resolve the damage of the dam,” Hassan said.

“The dam’s damage exposes a big risk to our district and the region, this is why we are urgently working on resolving the issue,” he added.