Turkey Earthquake: The United States has already sent rescue teams to Turkey.
Washington:
The United States on Thursday announced an initial $85 million package for emergency relief following devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
The US Agency for International Development said the money would go to partners on the ground to “provide urgently needed assistance for millions of people” through food, shelter and emergency health services.
The funding will also support access to safe drinking water and sanitation to prevent disease outbreaks, USAID said in a statement.
The announcement came after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke by telephone on Thursday to discuss the NATO ally’s needs.
Describing the call, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, “We are proud to join the global effort to help Turkey, as Turkey has often contributed its humanitarian rescue experts to many other countries in the past.” “
Officials said the United States has already sent rescue teams to Turkey and contributed concrete breakers, generators, water purification systems and helicopters.
USAID said rescue teams were focused on badly affected Adiyaman, searching for survivors with dogs, cameras and listening devices.
Following heavy damage to roads and bridges, the US military sent in Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters to move supplies.
Aid to Syria is flowing through local partners as the United States refuses to deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as Washington demands accountability over abuses during the brutal civil war.
An aid convoy reached rebel-held northwestern Syria on Thursday for the first time since the earthquake, passing through the only open border on the Turkish side – Bab al-Hawa.
Assad’s main international backer Russia has used its veto power at the UN Security Council to block further crossings and authorize Bab al-Hawa for only six months as it tries to promote the sovereignty of the Damascus government. Is.
“We call on the Assad regime to immediately allow all cross-border aid and to allow humanitarian access to all Syrians without exception,” Price said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
featured video of the day
“Vajpayee had used the word”: Congress’s M Kharge’s comment is being deleted