MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russia will continue to help Turkey deal with the quake aftermath, but it will not declare mourning in the country, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"There is no such practice," the Kremlin spokesman said, responding to a question about the possibility of declaring mourning in Russia for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey. Peskov reiterated that Russian President Vladimir Putin had expressed his condolences to the people of Turkey in a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He also drew attention to Russia’s active participation in post-earthquake cleanup and in search operations. "This work will continue," he assured.

Peskov was also asked whether assistance to Syria would be stepped up after the quake. "Of course, contacts are ongoing, and within the framework of these contacts the Syrian leadership provides information about its needs, all of them are promptly considered. To the extent possible, of course, assistance will continue," the spokesman assured.

On February 7, more than 100 rescue workers from the Russian Emergencies Ministry arrived in Turkey for search-and-rescue operations in the Kahramanmaras province, which was the hardest hit by the earthquake. The following day, a second plane with a group of rescuers and medics arrived. The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s contingent in Turkey numbers over 150 personnel. More than 50 members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry have arrived for rescue work in Syria.

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province, located in the country’s southeast, on February 6. The tremors, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, were felt in ten provinces as well as in neighboring countries, including Syria. The latest reports say that over 18,000 people have lost their lives in Turkey and about 74,000 have been injured. According to the Syrian Health Ministry, the devastating quake has left over 1,300 people dead in the already war-ravaged Middle Eastern country, with the number of those injured exceeding 2,200.