Blinken Tours Türkiye's Earthquake Zone, Pledges $100M In Aid
Date
2/19/2023 3:11:45 PM
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took a helicopter tour
Sunday of one of the provinces worst-affected by the Feb. 6
earthquake in southern Türkiye and northern Syria and pledged a
further $100 million in aid to help the region, trend reports citing ap .
“This is going to be a long-term effort,” Blinken said at
Incirlik Air Base, a joint U.S.-Turkish facility that has
coordinated the distribution of disaster aid.“The search and
rescue, unfortunately, is coming to an end. The recovery is on, and
then there will be a massive rebuilding operation.”
President Joe Biden announced $85 million for Türkiye and Syria
days after the earthquake that has killed more than 44,000 people
in the two countries. The U.S. has also sent a search and rescue
team, medical supplies and equipment.
The additional aid includes $50 million in emergency refugee and
migration funds and $50 million in humanitarian assistance, Blinken
said.
The secretary of state is making his first trip to NATO ally
Türkiye since he took office two years ago. Blinken arrived at
Incirlik Air Base, near Adana, on Sunday after attending the Munich
Security Conference in Germany.
He toured Türkiye's toured Hatay province from the air with
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavushoglu. He was expected to meet
with U.S. and Turkish service personnel, as well as Turkish
military families affected by the earthquake.
“When you see the extent of the damage, the number of buildings,
the number of apartments, the number of homes that have been
destroyed, it's going to take a massive effort to rebuild,” the top
U.S. diplomat said after the helicopter tour.
“The most important thing right now is to get assistance to
people who need it, to get them through the winter and to get them
back on their feet,” Blinken said as troops nearby unloaded boxes
of aid... We'll stick with it until we get the job done.”
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