The EU on Wednesday approved an initiative to send 400 million euros (about $420 million) from an EU Solidarity Fund to Turkey to help deal with the devastation after twin earthquakes hit the country’s southern regions in February.
The European Parliament said the plenary session “approved the allocation of almost €455 million from the EU Solidarity Fund in response to the recent natural disasters in Romania, Italy and Turkey”.
The EU representatives also expressed their “deepest solidarity with all victims, their families and all people affected by the drought in Romania, the devastating floods in Italy and the earthquakes in Turkey, as well as with the national, regional and local authorities and non-governmental organisations involved in the relief efforts”. The statement added:
The aid package was approved by 593 votes in favor, 11 votes against, and 22 abstentions.
The decision will affect the EU budget, making Turkey the biggest beneficiary of the new aid package, while Romania and Italy will get 33.9 million euros (about $35 million) and 20.9 million euros (about $22 million) respectively.
EU member states had already endorsed this support last month.
On 6 February, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes struck southern and southeastern Turkey, killing more than 50,000 people. About 13.5 million people were affected in 11 provinces of Turkey such as Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa and Elazığ.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) estimated the “total financial burden of the earthquake disaster” for Turkey at some $103.6 billion and said that amounted to 9% of the country’s GDP for 2023.
