WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd March, 2023) The United States will provide an additional $50 million in humanitarian assistance for Turkey and Syria to support people affected by the devastating earthquakes, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday.
"We support and applaud our international partners who raised $7.5 billion in earthquake assistance pledges for Turkey and Syria at yesterday's EU-hosted International Donors Conference in Brussels. During this conference, the US announced we are providing an additional $50 million in urgent humanitarian assistance to help earthquake-affected communities in Turkey and Syria," Patel told reporters.
This brings total US humanitarian assistance to both countries to $235 million, he added.
Earlier in the day, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EC would allocate one billion Euros to Turkey and over 108 million euros to Syria for reconstruction.
Other participants of the conference also pledged to allocate additional financial assistance to the affected countries. Finland will provide 12 million euros for the reconstruction of Turkey and Syria, according to the Finnish Foreign Ministry. Romania also promised to add 1.3 million euros to the humanitarian effort. The Swiss Federal Council announced the country will allocate $9.1 million to support people that have suffered from the disaster.
The European Union's total pledge has reached 3.6 billion euros, which is over 50% of a total of 7 billion euros raised for Turkey and Syria by both the EU and its international partners, a statement released by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU said.
