Blinken, in Turkey, pledges $100 million more in earthquake aid

Blinken arrived in Turkey on Sunday for an official visit and discussions on how Washington can further assist Ankara as it grapples with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people.

After arriving at Incirlik Air Base, Blinken took a helicopter tour of the quake-struck area with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Blinken later visited an aid logistics centre and helped military personnel load humanitarian aid.

“I just had a chance to fly over today to see some of the devastations and it's really hard to put into words,” Blinken told reporters.

“Today, I can announce that we will be bringing in another $100 million to assist those who are so desperately in need,” he said.

Since the earthquake, the United States has sent a search and rescue team to Turkey, along with medical supplies, concrete-breaking machinery and additional funding of $85 million in humanitarian aid that also covers Syria.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey's southeast and neighbouring Syria on Feb. 6, killing more than 45,000 people and leaving a million-plus people homeless, with the economic cost of the disaster expected to run into billions of dollars.

Blinken acknowledged that there have been serious logistical barriers to getting aid into Syria, but pledged to step up aid efforts regardless of U.S. sanctions on the regime.

“We'll do everything we can, including making sure, for example, that there is absolutely no doubt that whatever sanctions exist on Syria do not affect the provision of humanitarian assistance,” he said.

Blinken later thanked staff from the US Agency for International Development for their efforts to help victims of the earthquake.

Also topping Blinken’s agenda during his visit to Turkey will be the stalled Nato bids of Sweden and Finland, which Turkey has so far refused to ratify, saying Stockholm in particular has harboured what it calls members of terrorist groups. Ankara has recently indicated it would approve only Finland.

Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the trans-Atlantic defence pact after Russia invaded Ukraine but faced unexpected objections from Turkey and have since sought to win its support.

Reuters