US provides $85 million in urgent humanitarian aid to Turkey and Syria

The United States said on Thursday that it would provide $85 million in urgent humanitarian aid to Turkey and Syria after a massive earthquake that struck southeastern Türkiye and northern Syria have devastated millions.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) said, “This new funding is supporting USAID’s humanitarian partners to deliver urgently-needed aid for millions of people in Türkiye and in Syria.

This new funding is supporting USAID’s humanitarian partners to deliver urgently-needed aid for millions of people in Türkiye and in Syria. USAID is providing emergency food and shelter for refugees and newly displaced people, winter supplies to help families brave the cold, critical health care services to provide trauma support, safe drinking water to prevent disease, and hygiene and sanitation assistance to keep people safe and healthy.

The USAID said, hours after the earthquakes, the United States government rapidly mobilized to assist the Government of Türkiye and humanitarian partners in Syria after the February 6 earthquakes, at the direction of President Biden.

The same day, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced the deployment of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), USAID said in a statement. The DART is currently operating out of Adiyaman, Adana, and Ankara and comprises nearly 200 people, including disaster experts from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, as well as 159 search and rescue members and 12 canines. This includes locally-based USAID disaster experts who continue to assess needs in coordination with local authorities to inform response efforts.