US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Turkey on Sunday to observe firsthand the devastating consequences of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that has left more than 46,000 dead and millions homeless in Turkey and neighboring Syria.
While in Turkey, he is expected to meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Mevlut Cavusoglu, Blinken’s Turkish counterpart.
The meetings of top US diplomats in Turkey follow a visit to Washington by Cavusoglu last month. The two NATO allies have tried to mend relations over disagreements over Russia’s invasion of Ukrainein addition to offers from Sweden and Finland to join NATO.
Against all odds, rescuers have continued to recover people from the rubble of the February 6 quake, but the head of the country’s disaster response agency has said their efforts will end on Sunday.
Additional aid from the US for the earthquake
The United States on Sunday announced additional assistance of $100 million in response to the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the State Department said in a statement.
“President Biden intends to authorize $50 million in Emergency Assistance Funds for Refugees and Migration (ERMA in English),” specifies the note, which also details that the remaining $50 million will be channeled through the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
This will bring the total humanitarian assistance sent by the US to support Turkey’s and Syria’s response to the earthquake to $185 million.
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