The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) has announced that the search and rescue operations in most provinces have concluded nearly two weeks after the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. AFAD head Yunis Sezar stated that the death toll has risen to 40,642, and that the search and rescue operations will be completed by tomorrow night. Sezar further noted that the damage caused by the earthquakes and the aftershocks, which numbered more than 5,700, was not limited to the affected 11 provinces.
In Syria, the death toll has remained at 5,800 for several days. The World Health Organization estimates that 26 million people across both Turkey and Syria need humanitarian aid. On Saturday, a miracle rescue occurred in Antakya in southern Turkey when a Kyrgyzstan rescue team saved several members of a Syrian family of five from the rubble of a building. Unfortunately, one child succumbed to dehydration later on.
The immense damage has caused health concerns in both countries due to the destruction of sanitation infrastructure and lack of clean water in many stricken communities. In Syria, a cholera outbreak declared late last year is now sweeping the northwest, and aid groups as well as health experts have warned that the earthquakes will only worsen the situation. On the Turkish side, doctors have pointed to the lack of sanitation, safe water, and overcrowding of shelters as potential hazards for the spread of disease.
The aid convoys were able to navigate damaged Turkish roads and pass through the Bab al-Hawa crossing three days after the earthquake struck. Since then, the UN has apologized for the delay and begun using two other land crossings from Turkey into northern Syria. However, there are still some impediments, with the World Food Programme (WFP) saying authorities in the northwest are blocking access to the area.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is expected to travel to Turkey and meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The US has already sent a search and rescue team to Turkey, medical supplies, concrete-breaking machinery, and additional funding of $85m in humanitarian aid that also covers Syria.
The aftermath of the earthquakes has been devastating for both Turkey and Syria, with immense damage to infrastructure and lives lost. The search and rescue operations have now concluded in most provinces, but there is still much work to be done in terms of providing humanitarian aid to those affected. The US has already provided assistance, and hopefully more help will be forthcoming in order to ensure that those affected can rebuild their lives.