The United States said on Thursday (February 9) that it would provide $85 million in urgent humanitarian to earthquake-ravaged Turkey and Syria. The announcement (to provide the aid) was made by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) According to a statement, the USAID said, “This new funding is supporting USAID’s humanitarian partners to deliver urgently-needed aid for millions of people in Türkiye and in Syria. USAID is providing emergency food and shelter for refugees and newly displaced people, winter supplies to help families brave the cold, critical health care services to provide trauma support, safe drinking water to prevent disease, and hygiene and sanitation assistance to keep people safe and healthy.”
The USAID said that its Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) mobilised hours after the earthquakes, adding the top priority was to ramp up search and rescue operations for those trapped in the rubble.
The agency added that the DART was operating out of Adiyaman, Adana, and Ankara and comprised nearly 200 people, including disaster experts from the USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, as well as 159 search and rescue members and 12 canines.
“USAID commends the outpouring of support from around the world, and we welcome contributions of other donors to continue scaling up assistance to reach the people who need it most,” Thursday’s statement added.
Aid announcement made shortly after Blinken spoke with Turkish foreign minister
The announcement of the humanitarian aid was made shortly after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
On Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a daily briefing that Blinken’s call with Cavusoglu was to understand from Turkey “what they would like to see from the United States” in terms of assistance from the United States in the aftermath of the disaster, news agency Reuters reported. “The foreign minister (Cavusoglu) did offer to Secretary Blinken some specifics. We will do everything we possibly can to fulfil the needs that the Turks have put forward,” Price said, adding that Washington was also sending concrete breakers, generators, medical supplies, tents, water and water purification systems.
Which other countries have offered to help?
Apart from the United States, several other countries have offered to help Turkey and Syria. The names of the countries are as follows- the United Kingdom (UK), India, Italy, France, Spain, Russia, Israel, Germany, Poland, Greece, Japan, Austria, Romania, South Korea, Pakistan, Switzerland, China, Mexico, New Zealand, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Czech Republic, Serbia and Croatia.
Meanwhile, the World Bank also said that it would give $1.78 billion in aid to Turkey to help with relief and recovery efforts.
Turkey-Syria quake death toll tops 21,000
A total of 21,051 people have been killed in Turkey and Syria from Monday’s tremor, news agency AFP reported on Friday (February 10) citing officials. In Turkey, 17,674 have been killed while the death toll in Syria stands at 3,377. Experts have pointed out that the number of deaths would continue to rise sharply.
(With inputs from agencies)
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