Turkish health teams helping with relief efforts at Ukrainian border

ANKARA

The Turkish National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE) has been deployed at the Ukrainian-Romanian border to provide health services to those fleeing the Russian invasion, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said.

Uploading videos of UMKE teams monitoring evacuees on his Twitter account, Koca wrote, “The health service we provide in the country is now at Ukrainian-Romanian border.”

According to a statement by the Health Ministry, a team of 10 health experts is providing service at the border with two emergency response vehicles and a UMKE terrain vehicle.

“UMKE teams examine evacuees arriving at the Siret border gate following 35 to 40 hours of train or bus trips,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the number of Turkish citizens evacuated from Ukraine has reached 12,306, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced.

He tweeted that 372 additional citizens set off from Ukraine late March 7.

Separately, Turkey’s flag carrier announced that it has further extended its suspension of flights to and from Ukraine and Moldova until March 22.

Starting from Feb. 24, Turkish Airlines halted flights to those countries. On Feb. 28, it said it extended the suspension until March 15, and again on March 3, the carrier further suspended its flights until March 18.