IZMIR, Turkey 

African nurses participating in an international emergency health drill in western Turkey, expressed their love for the country. 

The Emergency and Disaster Medicine International Joint Field Exercise that was put on by the Turkish Health Ministry and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in İzmir province, at the Urla International Emergency Disaster Training and Simulation Center has ended.

It was the participation of 70 health care professionals from Turkey and 45 from African countries. 

Fatima El-Zahra Amin Fadil from Chad told Anadolu Agency that she came to Turkey in 2013 to study for her master's degree with a scholarship by Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) and she has never been disconnected from the country.

"I call Turkey my second country. I have never lost touch with it. Even though I am far away, I always feel like I am living side by side in the same place.”

Fadil thanked supporters and said the training has been of great benefit.

Somali Samira Mohammed said she is lucky to have participated in the exercise.

“We can say that Turkey has become a light and a friend to our country. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a person whom we respect very much, young and old alike. We cannot remunerate him for the sacrifices he has made. He is very important to Somalia and to us. You could say it lifted us up."

Mohammed noted that she is still a lecturer at the Health Sciences University Somalia Mogadishu Recep Tayyip Erdogan Health Services Vocational School.  

* Writing by Seda Sevencan