The issue of aid to Syria is a delicate one, and the approved government in Damascus made an official request for help from the European Union, said Janez Lenarcic, the bloc’s commissioner for crisis management.
A decade of civil war and Syrian-Russian aerial bombardment had already destroyed hospitals, collapsed the economy and fueled power, fuel and water shortages.
Lenarcic said the European Commission is “encouraging” EU member states to respond to Syria’s request for medical supplies and food, while monitoring to ensure that President Bashar al-Assad’s None of the aid has been “diverted” by the government.
Dozens of countries have pledged to help, including the United States, China and Gulf states, and search teams as well as relief supplies have already arrived.
The European Union has rushed to send rescue teams to Turkey after Monday’s devastating earthquake near the Syrian border hit the country.
But it initially offered only minimal aid to Syria because of EU sanctions on Assad’s government since 2011 over a brutal crackdown on protesters that has spiraled into a civil war.
The Turkey-Syria border is one of the most active earthquake zones in the world.
Monday’s earthquake was the biggest Turkey has seen since 1939, when 33,000 people were killed in eastern Erzincan province.
In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake killed over 17,000 people.