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US grants aid licence pausing Syrian sanctions
The US Treasury Department said Thursday it had issued a licenCe to allow earthquake-related relief to get through that would otherwise be prohibited by sanctions on Syria.
“US sanctions in Syria will not stand in the way of life-saving efforts for the Syrian people,” deputy Treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. “While US sanctions programs already contain robust exemptions for humanitarian efforts, today Treasury is issuing a blanket General License to authorise earthquake relief efforts so that those providing assistance can focus on what’s needed most: saving lives and rebuilding.”
The license lasts for six months. It expands on broad humanitarian authorisations already in effect.
The United States will provide $85m in initial earthquake aid to Turkey and Syria, which will include medicine, shelter and other supplies, President Joe Biden announced. “Our hearts remain with the people of Türkiye and Syria,” he said on Twitter:
The United States will provide $85 million in urgently-needed aid in the wake of the Türkiye and Syria earthquakes – including food and shelter, supplies to help families brave the cold, and medicine to help save lives.
Our hearts remain with the people of Türkiye and Syria.
Death toll passes 21,000
More than 21,000 people have been killed in Turkey and Syria and thousands more injured as efforts continue for a fifth day in freezing conditions on Friday to save those still trapped under rubble.
Officials and medics said on Thursday that 17,674 people had died in Turkey and 3,377 in Syria, bringing the confirmed total to 21,051.
Summary
Hello, my name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest developments from the earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria five days ago.
The death toll has now passed 21,000, exceeding the 20,000 that the World Health Organization initially projected when the quake first hit. The number of deaths is expected to climb in the coming days.
Rescue efforts are continuing for a fifth day in freezing conditions. Officials and medics said on Thursday that 17,674 people had died in Turkey and 3,377 in Syria, bringing the confirmed total to 21,051.
Meanwhile the US Treasury Department said Thursday it had issued a licence to allow earthquake-related relief that would otherwise be prohibited by sanctions to get through to Syria.
More on these stories shortly. In the meantime here are the key recent developments:
Turkey said almost 3,000 buildings had collapsed in seven different provinces, including public hospitals. A famous mosque dating back to the 13th century partially collapsed in the province of Maltaya, where a 14-story building with 28 apartments that housed 92 people collapsed.
The World Bank will provide $1.78bn (£1.47bn) to Turkey. Meanwhile, the US will send $85m in aid for Turkey and Syria. Immediate assistance of $780m would be offered via contingent emergency response components from two existing projects in Turkey, the bank said. Countries including France and Germany have also sent money and support, as has Greece, which has had long-term disputes with Turkey.
Britain is committing additional funding of £3m ($3.65m) to support search and rescue operations and emergency relief in Syria, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
At least 28,044 people have been evacuated from Kahramanmaraş, one of the southern Turkish provinces hardest hit by Monday’s earthquake, including 23,437 by air and 4,607 by road and rail, Turkey’s disaster management agency said.
Rescuers continued to pull people who have been trapped for days out of the rubble, including a young girl trapped for three days.
Turkey’s disaster management agency, AHAD, said it has recorded almost 650 aftershocks since the two earthquakes – 7.8 and 7.6 in magnitude – struck, making rescue efforts even more difficult and dangerous as emergency teams comb through severely weakened buildings.
A Reuters report shed light on how hundreds of thousands of people made homeless by the quake are being housed in banks of tents erected in stadiums and shattered city centres, while Mediterranean and Aegean beach resorts outside the quake zone are opening up hotel rooms for evacuees.
The World Health Organization head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is on his way to Syria, where the WHO is part of the response. The UN will dispatch its aid chief, Martin Griffiths, to Gaziantep in Turkey and Aleppo and Damascus in Syria this weekend.
The WHO said up to 23 million people overall could be affected by the earthquake and promised long-term assistance. Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 77 national and 13 international emergency medical teams were deploying to the affected areas.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has spoken to Turkey’s finance minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, about how the US can provide assistance in Turkey and Syria. US state department spokesperson Ned Price said the US would continue to demand unhindered humanitarian access to Syria and urged Bashar al-Assad’s government to immediately allow aid through all border crossings.
English (US)