EU pledges 7,5 bln euros, vows long-term relief engagement with Türkiye

SERKAN DEMİRTAŞ-BRUSSELS

The European Union, international financial institutions and development agencies have pledged long-term financial support to Türkiye’s efforts to revive the destroyed cities and socio-economic life in the earthquake-hit region at an international donors’ conference held in Brussels on March 20.

The EU has pledged 7,5 billion euros to quake-hit Türkiye and Syria.

The conference was opened by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council’s term president Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson with the participation of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and representatives from other countries.

Leyen announced that the European Commission decided to pledge 1 billion euros for the recovery and reconstruction efforts. She also told that Brussels would also provide 108 million euros for humanitarian assistance in neighboring Syria.

“We need to sustain our support. We need to mobilize the reconstruction of homes, schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure with the highest safety,” Leyen told in her opening address. Stressing that challenge is immense as it impacted the lives of around 13.5 million people in Türkiye, she said, that is why they have decided with Sweden to hold a donors’ conference to put together a strong pledge.

Stressing that scores of search and rescue teams, as well as humanitarian and medical teams, rushed to the help of the earthquake victims, Leyen said, “This is a story of catastrophic loss and heroic solidarity of the people of Türkiye and Syria as well as the international world.”

For his part, EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi stressed that the conference will launch an opportunity to extend the help of assistance from the EU to Türkiye.

“EU Commission is ready to assist Türkiye for the reconstruction of houses, schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure so that normal life can begin,” he said, adding that the EU’s engagement will be a long-term campaign.

Kristersson, for his part, underlined Sweden’s bid to help Türkiye and Syria, which have been hit by the disaster, informing that Stockholm will pledge 45 million euros to both countries. “We can turn our solidarity into action,” he stated.

Following the opening addresses, the Turkish Presidency of Strategy and Budget and the U.N. Development Program, as well as the World Bank, made a joint presentation of the preliminary damage assessment in Türkiye and the recovery vision.

Çavuşoğlu meets Dendias

In the meantime, Çavuşoğlu held a bilateral meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, who attended the donors’ conference. Çavuşoğlu said he thanked his colleague for Greece’s continued support and solidarity following the earthquakes.

Türkiye will support Greece’s nomination for the temporary seat at the U.N. Security Council for the period of 2025 and 2026.