Turkey: UN relief chief meets families affected by devastating earthquake Geopolitics News

Mr Griffiths was speaking in the Turkish town of Kahramanmaraş, where recovery efforts continue in freezing temperatures.

He met families left homeless by the disaster and heard their stories of shock and devastation.

“I’m here to make sure these people aren’t forgotten either,” he said.

Hope for Survivors

The UN relief chief also spoke to search and rescue teams as they carried out their operations in the devastated central parts of the city, amid collapsed buildings with excavation equipment digging into trash.

UN teams are already on the ground and more than 130 countries have dispatched responders, sniffer dogs, experts and other personnel.

“There has never been an international response, a Turkish response, to a natural disaster, as we see here in these terrible days,” Mr Griffiths said.

He praised the courage of people, including parents, who are working around the clock to save their families and children from the rubble – “hoping for one more sound, one more person to survive”.

Humanitarian support

More than 20,000 people are estimated to have died in the twin quakes, which struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday morning.

Millions more have been left homeless, including Syrians displaced by the 12-year war in their homeland and thousands of refugees who have crossed the border.

For Mr. Griffiths, the next step will be to care for those affected by the tragedy.

“And I’ve met some of them already today,” he said, “people who have lost their homes, whose children don’t have a school, who don’t have food, who have no money, who depend on the generosity of the Turkish people, the Turkish government and the international community.

Mr Griffiths is expected to visit the UN-authorized Syria cross-border operation in southern Turkey on Sunday before heading there.

The UN and its partners will also launch appeals for both countries.

In a video on his Twitter, Mr Griffiths said: “I hope we will see the same kind of generous, immediate and urgent international response to humanitarian needs that we have seen for these organizations helping the people of these cities to save the living. from the dead.

Heartbreaking terms

Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrived in Aleppo, Syria, on Saturday.

“I am heartbroken to see the conditions survivors face – freezing weather and extremely limited access to shelter, food, water, heat and medical care,” he said. he writes in a post on his official Twitter account.

In a separate tweet, Tedros shared how he met two babies, Nour and Omar, who had lost their parents in the earthquake.

“There are no words to express the pain they are going through. Grateful to the colleagues and partners who provide them with the care, comfort and love they need,” he wrote.