By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - European Union officials expressed solidarity with Türkiye and Syria on Tuesday on the occasion of the first anniversary of the deadly twin earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people.
In a joint statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and European Commissioners Janez Lenarcic and Oliver Varhelyi said the EU continues to stand in solidarity with the affected people in both countries and reaffirms its commitment to continue assisting those whose lives were torn apart by the natural disaster.
"Since the first moments in the aftermath of the earthquakes, the EU provided an immediate emergency response," said the statement, adding that European rescuers were mobilized on the ground immediately after the vast devastation, delivering life-saving supplies to disaster sites.
Recalling that the EU hosted an International Donor's Conference on March 20 last year to raise funding to support earthquake victims in Türkiye and Syria, it said a total of €7 billion ($7.5 billion) was raised, including €1 billion by the EU.
"In Türkiye, in addition to the emergency assistance coordinated via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, with an estimated financial value of €38 million, the EU provided €78.2 million in humanitarian aid for the earthquake response in 2023 and €26 million in humanitarian aid in 2024," said the statement.
The EU has also mobilized €75 million for its humanitarian response to the earthquake in Syria, it added.
The Feb. 6 earthquakes that hit southern Türkiye killed a total of 53,537 people and injured more than 107,000 others.
The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 Turkish provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.
More than 14 million people were affected in Türkiye along with many others in northern Syria.