The European Commission will provide Turkey with €1 billion to help with “post-earthquake reconstruction” following the deadly quakes that killed tens of thousands in February, Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.
“No one can fill the void left by those who lost their lives, yet together we can reconstruct and rebuild,” the Commission president said ahead of a donors’ conference in Brussels.
She called for “homes, schools and hospitals” destroyed in the earthquakes to be rebuilt “with the highest standards of seismic safety.”
More than 50,000 people died in Turkey and Syria after a series of powerful earthquakes hit southeastern Turkey in February. The earthquakes destroyed tens of thousands of buildings, raising questions over the construction standards in the seismic region.
The aid package also includes €108 million for humanitarian assistance to Syria, von der Leyen said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday the cost of the earthquakes’ damages was estimated at $104 billion (around €97 billion).
