The European Commission has today pledged €1 billion towards rebuilding Turkey after the devastating earthquakes in February. At an international donors’ conference in Brussels, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also pledged €108 million for humanitarian aid in Syria.
According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the official death toll in Turkey has risen to more than 50,000. Material damage amounts to around US$104 billion, Erdogan said today in Brussels. Nearly 300,000 buildings were severely damaged.
The United Nations assumes that around 8.8 million people will be affected in Syria. According to the UK-based, pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 6,800 people were killed in the aftershocks in Syria.