Türkiye's highest mountain hosts search, rescue training

AĞRI

Mount Ağrı, revered as the "roof of Türkiye," has stood as a paramount site for various training programs designed to elevate the skills of the country's thousands of search and rescue team members.

Located in the country’s east, this mountain, whose summit reaches 5,137 meters, provides a challenging terrain where teams engage in simulated exercises, gaining both strength and proficiency.

By focusing on subjects such as search techniques and deployment following alerts, these teams aim to hone their reaction times, ultimately striving to maximize their search and rescue capabilities in the event of losses, accidents, or disasters at high altitudes.

"The response and deployment time are crucial in all disasters, but there are also mountains with extreme altitudes. We aim to demonstrate our intervention capacity in these mountains. We want to showcase how competent we are not only in our country but also in handling high-altitude operations that may occur worldwide," stated Fikret Deniz, a provincial head of Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

"The purpose of these drills is to ensure that the team is fully aware of how to respond to a rescue operation on Mount Ağrı, understanding both their capabilities and limitations. Mount Ağrı represents a crucial route for us, and we are meticulously preparing our teams to perform under the harshest conditions it can present."

Commenced on Dec. 17 with 90 participants, the training program unfolds in intervals and will run until February 2025.

Deniz emphasized the importance of advancing the teams' mountaineering skills, with additional drills and exercises planned to ensure their readiness.

Just a month prior, two Belarusian siblings who had gone missing during a hiking trip in the central province of Niğde were rescued after days of extensive search efforts.