The Civil Defence Organisation is continuing to award service plaques to members of the public who have completed their compulsory service and have been discharged due to their age.

President Ersin Tatar attended a ceremony held at the Civil Defence Organisation’s Gazimağusa Regional Headquarters on Friday.

Addressing the ceremony in Gazimağusa, President Ersin Tatar said that nothing will be the same following the February 6 earthquake disaster in Türkiye.

“The pain and suffering of the loss we have experienced will never be forgotten,” said Tatar, adding that work was underway to prepare and avert such disasters.

Reminding that teams from the TRNC Civil Defence Organisation had participated in search and rescue efforts in Türkiye in the aftermath of the quake, President Ersin Tatar said that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as a Turkic state in the Eastern Mediterranean was prepared to offer relief and support in all kinds of disaster with all its institutions and means.

Tatar emphasized that the TRNC has been gradually upgrading its capacity, capabilities and strength along with its institutions and organizations, and that it has been able to reflect its capabilities in the international arena.

He highlighted the importance of civil defense and stated that the organization is being further developed each day.

“It must be our priority to further develop and take to higher levels the institutional structure of the Civil Defense Organization, which follows technological advancements closely, which is ready for all possible scenarios and which has an active, swift and systematic response mechanism. It possesses the characteristics of being a pioneering and exemplary institution,” he said.