The EU Commission has pledged more than €1.1 billion towards reconstruction in Turkey and Syria after the devastating earthquakes in February. One billion euros must flow into Turkey, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday at the opening of an EU donors’ conference.
The European Union does not have diplomatic relations with Syria because of the war that has been going on since 2011. Funds of 108 million euros will be made available for the purposes of humanitarian aid and reconstruction for local populations. More support was requested at the conference; seven billion euros were mobilized. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had previously announced that her country would double its aid to Turkey and Syria to a total of 240 million euros.
Sweden wants to contribute with 45 million euros. Von der Leyen invited to the donors’ conference along with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
The chairman of the Commission said: “We must maintain our support and help survivors not only to survive but also to rebuild their lives.” She added that homes, schools and hospitals would need to be rebuilt to the highest seismic safety standards.
Millions of homeless people
Six weeks after the earthquake disaster, the official death toll in Turkey has risen to more than 50,000, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Material damage amounts to around 104 billion dollars; nearly 300,000 buildings were severely damaged. The United Nations Development Program also estimates Turkey’s total financial burden at over $100 billion.
According to the government of Ankara, around 20 million people in the country are affected by the effects of the earthquake. 3.7 million people have been evacuated from the affected region, nearly two million people are currently living in tents. The catastrophe triggered a heated discussion about failures in crisis management and post-crisis management.
The United Nations assumes that around 8.8 million people will be affected in Syria. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 6,800 people died in the aftershocks in Syria.