ANKARA: After earthquakes shook the countrytwo weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged that Washington will support Turkey "for as long as it takes" as officials demolished several damaged structures. Together with a search and rescue team, medical equipment, concrete-crushing machines, and an additional $85 million in humanitarian aid that also covers Syria, the United States has dispatched supplies to Turkey.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, the foreign minister of Turkey, stated following talks with Blinken that there was no need to wait for a catastrophe and trying times to mend ties with the United States. In a press conference, Cavusoglu and Blinken stated that Turkey could not purchase US F-16 fighter jets on the basis of preconditions. But, they added that they thought the problem could be solved if the American government maintained its firm stance.

At a joint press conference in Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Blinken said, "The United States and Turkey do not agree on every topic, but it is a cooperation that has endured obstacles." According to the U.S. State Department, $185 million has been allocated in total by the United States for humanitarian relief to support the earthquake response in Turkey and Syria.

Since Ankara purchased Russian missile defence systems in 2019, among other things, relations between the NATO allies have been tense. In an interview with reporters, Cavusoglu said that he had spoken with Blinken about a $20 billion sale for American F-16 fighter jets. He added that Turkey would like the U.S. government to notify Congress formally of the purchase of the F-16s.

After the earthquakes on February 6 that killed more than 46,000 people in southern Turkey and northwest Syria, rescue efforts came to an end on Monday. According to Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), almost 13,000 industrial vehicles, including trucks, cranes, and excavators, had been dispatched to the earthquake zone.

With almost 385,000 apartments in the nation reportedly demolished or substantially damaged, and many others still unaccounted for, the death toll in Turkey has grown to 41,020 and is anticipated to rise. Some 356,000 pregnant women who urgently require access to reproductive health services are among the survivors of the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, according to a statement made over the weekend by the U.N. agency for sexual and reproductive health (UNFPA).
Some 38,800 of the women, who total 226,000 in Turkey and 130,000 in Syria, will give birth in the coming month.
Many of the women, according to the report, are living in camps or outside in subfreezing temperatures while battling for access to food and clean water. Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a medical assistance organisation, reported that a convoy of 14 of its trucks has entered northwest Syria on Sunday to help with earthquake rescue operations, as worries about a lack of access to the war-torn region rise.

In order to assist hundreds of thousands of people in need after the earthquakes, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been putting pressure on the local authorities in that area to stop restricting access. The majority of killings have occurred in Syria's northwest, a country already devastated by more than ten years of civil war. The region is under the control of insurgents who are at war with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, which has made it difficult to provide help to the population.

A representative for the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that as of Monday morning, 197 vehicles carrying U.N. humanitarian aid have crossed into northwest Syria through two border crossings.

Survivors were found 12 days after the earthquake in Turkey

India provided medical help worth Rs 7.00 crore to quake-hit Turkey-Syria

The Syrian government has agreed on providing Aid to the frontlines