Upon a request from Turkey and NATO, Japan has decided to dispatch a military aircraft for the transportation of emergency relief supplies from Pakistan to Turkey for survivors of devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey last month, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing ReliefWeb.
“… [O]ne SDF [Self-Defense Forces] aircraft is scheduled to depart for Pakistan, as early as 14th, to transport emergency relief supplies, including tents located in Pakistan, to Turkey,” it said.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck near the Turkish city of Gaziantep – home to around 2 million people and on the border with Syria – as people were sleeping on February 6 was followed by dozens of aftershocks, including a 7.5-magnitude temblor that jolted the region in the middle of search and rescue efforts the same day.
In a visit to Ankara in February, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO would be sending “tens of thousands of tents” to the country for quake survivors who were left homeless.
The Alliance will deliver temporary housing to Turkey for at least 4,000 people affected by the earthquakes, reports say.
According to relief organizations the impact of the earthquakes will be felt for months and years to come.
The UN launched a $1 billion funding appeal to support millions of people in Turkey.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier said in a statement that the funds would provide humanitarian relief for three months to 5.2 million people. The money would “allow aid organizations to rapidly scale up vital support,” including in the areas of food security, protection, education, water and shelter, he added.
UN humanitarian agencies will need $397.6 million in funding over the next three months to respond to the most pressing humanitarian needs of 4.9 million people in Syria who have been affected by the quakes, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.