Turkiye, Syria Earthquake: UN Admits Aid Failure For Syria As Combined Death Toll Crosses 34,000 — Top Points

Officials in Turkey issued 113 arrest warrants after scores of buildings were razed to rubble in the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday while 12 were taken into custody.

Combined death toll in Turkey and Syria crossed 34,000 on Sunday. (Representational Image)

Source : AFP

At least 34,179 people were reported dead on Sunday in Turkiye and Syria after earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 struck at a difference of nine hours on Monday. In Turkey, 29,605 people have died according to the Emergency Coordinator Centre, SAKOM.   

In Syria, 4,574 people were confirmed dead which included 3,160 in rebel-held northwestern parts of the country as per the health ministry of the Salvation Government governance authority and 1,414 casualties in government-controlled parts, according to SANA. 

UN Admits Aid Failure To Syria 

The United Nations has admitted the failure to send desperately-needed aid to the war-torn regions of Syria. A UN convoy with supplies for northwest Syria arrived via Turkiye, but the agency's relief chief Martin Griffiths said on Sunday much more was needed for millions whose homes were destroyed, reported TRT World. 

The pace of supplies reaching Syria is slow, which has already been reeling under crisis with a ravaged healthcare system following 12 years of civil war. 

A 10-truck UN convoy crossed into northwest Syria via the Bab al Hawa border crossing, according to an AFP correspondent, carrying shelter kits, plastic sheeting, rope, blankets, mattresses, and carpets.

Bab al Hawa is the only point for international aid to reach people in rebel-held areas of Syria after nearly 12 years of civil war after other crossings were closed under pressure from China and Russia. 

Turkiye Probes Building Contractors 

Officials in Turkey issued 113 arrest warrants after scores of buildings were razed to rubble in the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday last week while the Turkish Police has taken 12 contractors into custody with more arrests expected, reported BBC. 

While the quake was powerful, many in Turkey had blamed faulty construction for multiplying the devastation. Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said 131 people were under investigation for their alleged responsibility in the construction of buildings that failed to withstand the quakes. 

According to a report by AP, Turkey’s construction codes meet current earthquake-engineering standards, at least on paper, but they are rarely enforced. 

US Issues 6-Month Sanction Exemption For Syria

Meanwhile, the United States has issued a six-month sanction exemption for all transactions related to providing disaster relief to Syria. 

“I want to make very clear that US sanctions in Syria will not stand in the way of life-saving efforts for the Syrian people,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said after the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued the exemption on Thursday.

Adeyemo said that US sanctions already provide exemptions for humanitarian efforts, while Karam Shaar, a Syrian economist and non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute said that the most recent exemption will have “a limited positive impact”, reported Al Jazeera.