ANKARA
Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will virtually address the opening session of Monday’s EU-led International Donors’ Conference for solidarity with the country after last month’s powerful earthquakes, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry said in a statement that the conference, which is being organized by the EU Commission and Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, “reflects the solidarity and support following the devastating earthquakes of 6 February.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will attend the conference in person and hold bilateral talks with his counterparts on the sidelines, statement added.
“At the Conference, the participant countries and international organizations will be briefed on the ‘Türkiye Earthquakes Recovery and Reconstruction Assessment’ (TERRA), the Government-led report prepared with support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on behalf of the United Nations System, the EU and the World Bank,” it said.
“The TERRA report outlines the loss and damage caused by the earthquakes, and presents a more resilient, sustainable recovery and reconstruction vision that is environmentally sound. The participants attending the Conference are expected to announce their contributions in light of the said report,” it added.
On Feb. 6, the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 provinces — Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.
More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.
The country’s Vice President Fuat Oktay on Saturday said that the death toll had risen to over 49,500, including more than 6,800 foreign nationals.
