Missions

TSF deploys teams to support the populations in South Turkey and North Syria regions affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and 7.5 aftershock.

Medical care is essential for Syrian civilians, who may be injured by fighting and shelling, but also weakened by the very difficult living conditions imposed by the war since 2011. TSF provides means of communication to coordinate hospitals and medical teams working in this unsafe and unstable environment, and to improve their security.

After the violent earthquake in eastern Turkey on October 23, 2012, a team from TSF intervened in less than 24 hours. In order to assess the telecommunication needs of the humanitarian community and the population, the team coordinated with the crisis centre in Van, then joined Erciş, the most devastated city.

Violent fighting between Russian and Georgian forces in the breakaway region of South Ossetia forced 160,000 civilians to settle temporarily in camps where living conditions were particularly difficult. At the request of OCHA, TSF deployed to provide telecom facilities for UNHCR-led assessments in the west of the country. More than 300 families were also able to contact their relatives during telephony operations.

TSF assists the government and the Red Crescent to help the populations of the villages buried by the waters following the bursting of the Zeyzoun dam

TSF deployed for the first time to emergency relief in the aftermath of the Izmit earthquake in north-western Turkey.