EU rallies int'l donors, raises $7.5B for quake-hit Türkiye, Syria

International donors attending the conference organized by the European Union raised €7 billion ($7.5 billion) for earthquake relief efforts in Türkiye and Syria on Monday, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the cost of damage had risen to $104 billion.

"The total pledges amount to €7 billion," Swedish Premier Ulf Kristersson announced at the end of the Together for the People in Türkiye and Syria International Donors' Conference.

Kristersson said the fundraiser has "reached its goal."

The event was co-hosted by the European Commission and the Swedish government, which assumed the turning presidency of the Council of the EU on Jan. 1.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, also welcomed the pledges.

"Thank you very much for showing the people of Syria and Turkey that they are not alone, that we care, we are here to help," she said.

The European Commission itself pledged €1 billion for reconstruction in Türkiye and a further package of €108 million for humanitarian assistance and early recovery in Syria.

More than a month after deadly earthquakes hit Türkiye and Syria, the European Union sought to reinvigorate the solidarity with Ankara manifested in the immediate aftermath of the "disaster of the century."

Catastrophic earthquakes on Feb. 6 flattened entire cities, killing over 50,000 people across southeastern Türkiye and parts of war-torn Syria. Millions were displaced and a preliminary estimate from the United Nations says the damage in Türkiye alone could amount to over $100 billion (TL 1.9 trillion). Flash floods in the region last week only added to the misery, killing more than a dozen people living in temporary shelters.

The EU executive will give 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) to help reconstruction in Türkiye, the head of the European Commission said at the opening of the conference. The organization's head, Ursula von der Leyen, said the commission would spend a further 108 million euros on humanitarian assistance and early recovery in Syria.

"The needs of the survivors are still massive and must be tackled with urgency," von der Leyen said.

"Millions are now homeless and living in tents as the winter drags on," she said, urging the conference to drum up support for survivors.

"...Homes and schools and hospitals must be rebuilt, with the highest standards of seismic safety. Water and sanitation and other critical infrastructure must be repaired. Public services and businesses need capital to restart."

In his address to the conference, President Erdoğan said the catastrophe was the most severe earthquake on the land, according to scientists.

“Türkiye is a country rushing to the aid of those in need around the world for years,” Erdoğan said before thanking search and rescue crews from around the world that rushed to help Türkiye after the earthquakes. “We will never forget the solidarity shown by our friends, the EU, candidate countries, the United Nations and international organizations. This conference is another indication of the strong ties we have. Our real struggle starts now. We will reconstruct and revive all our cities destroyed by the earthquakes. We will reconstruct infrastructure. Our objective is to build high-quality and safe buildings within one year,” he said.

Erdoğan said they started reconstruction in earthquake-hit provinces already. “We are simultaneously setting up tent cities, container cities, prefabricated cities. Within two months, we will set up 8,000 containers,” he said.

“We are a nation believing in solidarity and the blessing of sharing. We rushed to aid anyone in need regardless of their ethnicity or religious background. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we provided aid to 160 countries. We opened our doors and hearts to people fleeing conflicts,” he said, referring to Syrian refugees in the country.

“I hope this conference will be auspicious for our country, our nation,” he added.

The United Nations Development Programme complained earlier this month about the poor level of response to a call made in mid-February for urgent funding. Aid organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) urged donors to at least ensure the U.N.'s emergency appeal for $1 billion for Türkiye and $397 million for Syria are fully funded.

The U.N. says the appeal for Türkiye has so far only been 16% fulfilled, while the figure for Syria stands at 72%. "Over a month since the earthquake, the situation in affected regions remains desperate," said Tanya Evans, IRC Syria Country Director. "With many homes damaged or destroyed, many people are left with no choice but to sleep in overcrowded and under-resourced collective shelters."

The EU, which is hosting the conference in coordination with the Turkish government has said it plans to make a "significant pledge" for further relief, recovery and reconstruction. It has called on the rest of the international community to commit funds "in line with the scale and magnitude of the damage."

President attended the conference via video link while Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu represented Türkiye at the event.

Türkiye is a key partner of the EU, even if ties are often strained. The bloc already gave billions in aid to help its eastern neighbor house refugees from Syria's 12-year war. But the regime of Syria's Bashar Assad, sanctioned by the West since the brutal crackdown that sparked the ongoing civil war, will not be involved. While international rescue teams and aid flowed quickly to Türkiye, humanitarian organizations faced major hurdles in reaching stricken areas in northern Syria.

The U.N. investigators say the area became the "epicenter of neglect" as the warring factions and hesitancy by the international community have held up desperately needed aid. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the disaster had only "further exacerbated the suffering caused by the existing conflict across Syria."

"A country at peace would have been much better prepared to face this tragic event and equipped to address its consequences," he said.

Aid has belatedly begun reaching the stricken areas in northern Syria. The EU and the United States eased sanctions to speed up deliveries, and the Syrian regime opened two new border crossings.

Assad has been receiving calls and humanitarian aid from Arab leaders in the quake's aftermath, in a move analysts say could be the start of improved ties. He arrived Sunday for his second visit since the quake to the UAE, which has already pledged more than $100 million in assistance. The donor conference in Brussels is open to countries from the Middle East and across the globe, but Assad's key backer Russia is excluded due to its war on Ukraine.

Germany will double its financial aid for the quake-hit regions in Türkiye and Syria to 240 million euros, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced on Monday ahead of the conference. Baerbock said Germany and its European partners will support reconstruction efforts in the cities hit by devastating earthquakes last month.

"After the earthquakes, Germany and the EU provided immediate assistance to save people. Today, reconstruction is the central priority and we will continue our assistance," she pledged.

In the meantime, aid pours in from around the world and immediate neighbors of Türkiye in the aftermath of the earthquakes. Greece Sunday sent 60 truckloads of essential goods to help the victims. The aid was collected as part of a campaign organized by the Attica Region Administration and the Oloi Mazi Boroume (Together We Can) initiative.

Pakistan's 18th chartered cargo flight carrying aid for earthquake-hit Türkiye arrived in the southern province of Adana on Sunday. Pakistan's Embassy in Ankara said on Twitter that 22,637 tents had been dispatched to Türkiye via the "special flight operation," which began on March 11, 2023.

"Earthquake Relief supplies have also been sent by sea & land," it added. The UAE on Saturday said it has so far delivered 7,367 tons of aid materials to quake-hit Türkiye and Syria to mitigate the effects of the deadly earthquakes. In a statement on Twitter, the country's Defense Ministry said the supplies were dispatched via 230 cargo planes and one ship. "Chivalrous Knight 2 continues to support Syria and Türkiye in confronting the earthquake," the ministry said.

Operation Chivalrous Knight 2 focuses on recovery and rehabilitation to support those affected by the quakes in Syria and Türkiye.

'Time for support'

"Now is the time for the world to come to Türkiye's aid," the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) Türkiye representative said on Monday. "The scale of destruction is hard to comprehend. The affected region is as big as Austria or Portugal, housing a population of over 15 million people (16.4% of the country's total population)," Louisa Vinton said in a written statement to Anadolu Agency (AA).

"About 2.3 million people are currently living in tents and containers in the region, while millions more are believed to have left the earthquake zone for shelter outside," Vinton added.

She noted that the Turkish government has committed huge resources to help those affected, and has announced ambitious plans not only for temporary shelters but also for full reconstruction. The world has also raced to support the response, with 88 countries dispatching over 11,000 personnel to support search and rescue efforts and provide emergency medical assistance, she said. Meanwhile, the U.N. has also mobilized its full resources. Various U.N. agencies are supporting the emergency response, with 6 million hot meals delivered so far along with tents, warm clothing, and hygiene supplies, as well as "early recovery" efforts aimed at getting life back to normal for those affected as soon as possible.

Recalling the flash appeal of $1 billion that was launched for Türkiye on Feb. 16, Vinton said that so far, $167.4 million (16.6%) has been collected, and "though a small share of what was requested, this is still a sizable amount."

"Will this be enough? Not by a long shot, it seems, especially when the costs of recovery and reconstruction are taken into account," she warned, adding a preliminary assessment of the financial impact of the earthquakes prepared by the government of Türkiye with support from the UNDP and other U.N. agencies working together with the World Bank and the European Union puts the cost of reconstruction at $103.6 billion.

According to a report by the Türkiye Earthquakes Recovery and Reconstruction Assessment (TERRA), published on March 17, the estimated cost of the destroyed housing alone is $66.2 billion. Infrastructure and utilities will require an estimated cost of $10.2 billion, $6.7 billion for education, $5.6 billion for health care and $14.9 billion for other expenses. "This vast amount is an accurate reflection of the dramatic scale of the destruction that Türkiye has experienced. That is equivalent to 9% of the Turkish GDP. It also suggests that even a country as economically resilient as Türkiye will struggle to afford the cost of reconstruction on its own," she underlined.

She stressed that minimizing the gap between needs and means will thus depend "heavily on international solidarity and generosity." "As the TERRA (report) suggests, the needs are vast and urgent, and now is the time for the world to come to Türkiye's aid," Vinton said.

She said these numbers from the report will be presented at the donor conference.

"The world's leading economies will have a chance to stand with Türkiye at a time of utmost need by pledging sufficient financial support," she said. "What donors need to remember as they formulate their pledges is that this is an opportunity to reciprocate the unparalleled generosity that Türkiye has shown over the past decade, in providing a safe haven to the world's largest refugee population," she said, adding that Syrians accounted for 13.7% of the earthquake victims in the country.

Recalling U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' remarks on Feb. 9 that "a center of solidarity is now an epicenter of suffering," she remarked, "The international community needs to extend to the people of Türkiye the same support and generosity they have shown in receiving, protecting and assisting millions of refugees and displaced people."