World Bank to provide $1.78 billion for Turkey

World Bank to provide $1.78 billion for Turkey
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The World Bank announced $1.78 billion in aid to support relief and reconstruction efforts following the devastating earthquakes in Turkey

The World Bank will provide $1.78 billion in assistance to Turkey to support relief and reconstruction efforts following earthquakes in the southeast of the country that killed nearly 18,000 people in Turkey and neighboring Syria.

The lender is offering $780 million in emergency assistance under two existing projects in the country to rebuild basic infrastructure at the community level, the Washington-based lender said in a statement Thursday. It's also preparing $1 billion in additional measures to help the affected people.

The World Bank has begun a rapid damage assessment to assess the scale of the disaster and identify priority areas for recovery and reconstruction, it said.

The massive earthquakes have hit 10 provinces in southeastern Turkey. Many people remain trapped in collapsed buildings, and survivors are facing freezing temperatures at night.

The United States will also provide $85 million in urgent humanitarian assistance to Turkey and Syria after a massive earthquake that killed more than 20,000 people.

The announcement by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) came shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, their second call in four days.

"This new funding is supporting USAID’s humanitarian partners to deliver urgently-needed aid for millions of people in Türkiye and in Syria," USAID said in a statement.