North Macedonia declares day of national mourning over earthquakes in Türkiye, Syria

North Macedonia decided Sunday to declare a national day of mourning over last week's devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

"We have declared tomorrow (Monday) a day of mourning in memory of those who lost their lives in the devastating earthquakes that hit the border region of Türkiye and Syria. The thoughts and prayers of the citizens of North Macedonia are with the relatives and families of those who lost their lives,'' said Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski.

He added that North Macedonia will continue to help and support Türkiye and Syria.

"On behalf of all the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia, I express my condolences to all those who lost their loved ones. As a state and as a people, we will continue to help, we will be in solidarity and we will be a support for the suffering citizens, for those who lost everything,'' said Kovacevski.

Flags will be lowered at half-staff across the country and at the diplomatic representations of North Macedonia abroad.

The Albanian government also declared Monday a national day of mourning for the victims of the tragedy at the Turkish-Syrian border.

At least 29,605 people were killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye last Monday, the country's disaster agency said Sunday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors.

In Syria, at least 3,574 people were killed and thousands of others injured in the northern provinces of Idlib, Latakia, Aleppo, Hama and Raqqa, according to government sources and rescue officials in opposition-held areas.