Washington - The United States has announced an initial $85 million package for emergency relief after a devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria.
The US Agency for International Development that the funding will go to partners on the ground "to deliver urgently needed aid for millions of people" including through food, shelter and emergency health services.
The funding will also support safe drinking water and sanitation to prevent the outbreak of disease, the agency said in a statement.
The announcement comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier on Thursday to discuss the Nato's ally needs.
"We are proud to join the global efforts to help Türkiye just as Türkiye has so often contributed its own humanitarian rescue experts to so many other countries in the past," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters as he described the call.
The US has sent rescue teams to Türkiye and has contributed concrete breakers, generators, water purification systems and helicopters, officials said.
Assistance in Syria is going through local partners as the US refuses to deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as Washington demands accountability over abuses during the brutal civil war.
AFP