EU doing its best to aid Türkiye and Syria in wake of powerful quakes - Official

The EU will keep on lending support to Türkiye in the wake of Monday's twin devastating earthquakes, said the bloc's top crisis official.

"We are going to continue any support we can provide in order to help with the situation," Janez Lenarcic, European commissioner for crisis management, told a press conference on Thursday in Gaziantep, one of the provinces hit hard by Monday's earthquake disaster.

The aid Europe is sending to Türkiye shows a "strong solidarity," Lenarcic added, underlining that the EU has 38 rescue and medical units on the ground.

"This adds to 1,600 rescue personnel. All of them are helping to find survivors. We're working in close coordination with Turkish authorities," Lenarcic added.

"Yesterday, Türkiye requested additional assistance and it has started to come. We are going to continue any support we can in order to help with the situation. We have decided to allocate €3 million to Türkiye as a first step," he said.

"We also know that people who have been affected by this earthquake. Helping Syrians is just as important as helping Turkish people. We're doing our best."

On sending aid to Syria, which remains under EU sanctions, Lenarcic said that the sanctions do not apply to humanitarian aid.

He said the "sanctions are very carefully calibrated. Those sanctions target individuals and entities responsible for the oppression of the Syrian people. Those sanctions do not affect the principled delivery of humanitarian aid, which means that the aid is directly sent to those in need."

"We have received requests from the Syrian authorities and we encouraged EU member states to provide that kind of assistance such as medical equipment. We need to make sure this aid gets to the people in need," he added, underlining that the bloc is in coordination with UN World Food Program.

"We have also allocated €3.5 million for Syrians as a first step. Together with EU member states, the additional allocations of humanitarian funding since Monday due to the earthquake has now surpassed €50 million," he said, adding: "More will come, I'm confident."

"I have also met with first responders who are working in Gaziantep. I was impressed by the dedication," he said in praise of search and rescue workers working day and night to save the afflicted.

"The clock is ticking and with every hour the possibility of finding someone alive decreases. As long as there's the slightest hope that someone can be rescued from the rubble, the efforts will continue," he said.

Lenarcic also said that Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Cilvegozu, Türkiye into Syria was closed for a while due to damage to the road after the earthquake.

"Now that Turkish authorities have repaired it, it is now open again to reach northern Syria," he said, adding that "if all border crossings were open, sending humanitarian aid would be much easier."

"We are doing everything we can, and so are the authorities of Türkiye, as far as I can see. As this disaster is of such a magnitude, it is a big challenge," he added.

"There will be next stage, rehabilitation, recovery, and reconstruction. The EU is committed to be in an active and leading role in this. The European Commission also organized a donor conference for Türkiye and Syria to be held in March."