Following a severe earthquake in Turkey and
Syria, the United States on Thursday released an initial $85 million package
for humanitarian relief.
According to the US Agency for International
Development, the money would be given to local partners "to deliver
desperately needed help for millions of people," including food, housing,
and emergency medical care.
According to a statement from the
organisation, the funds would help support sanitation and safe drinking water
to stop the spread of disease.
The declaration follows a telephone
conversation between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier on Thursday to address the requirements of
NATO's allies.
Ned Price, a spokesman for the State
Department, detailed the conversation to reporters and said, "We are
delighted to join the international efforts to help Turkiye just as Turkiye has
so often offered its own humanitarian rescue specialists to so many other
nations in the past."
According to officials, the US has already
dispatched rescue teams to Turkiye and donated concrete breakers, generators,
water purification equipment, and helicopters.
As the United States refuses to work with
Syrian President Bashar Assad and wants accountability for violations committed
during the terrible civil conflict, aid to Syria is provided through local
partners.