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IKEA donates more than $10m to earthquake relief efforts in Türkiye and Syria
CGTN
Europe;Turkiye
Destroyed buildings seen from above in Antakya, southeastern Türkiye. /Hussein Malla/AP
Destroyed buildings seen from above in Antakya, southeastern Türkiye. /Hussein Malla/AP

Destroyed buildings seen from above in Antakya, southeastern Türkiye. /Hussein Malla/AP

The charitable arm of home furnishings giant IKEA has announced it is donating 10 million euros ($10.77m) to aid relief efforts in Türkiye and Syria, after a 7.8 magnitude earthquakes and a series of aftershocks struck the region in the early hours of Monday.

The IKEA Foundation says the donation will go to the aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Thousands who lost their homes in the catastrophic earthquake huddled around campfires and clamored for food and water in the bitter cold on Thursday, three days after the disaster killed more than 17,000 people.

Rescuers continued their race to pull more people alive from the rubble, with the window closing to find trapped survivors. 

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Thousands of rescue workers have been sent from across the world to aid recovery operations in Türkiye. 

In Syria, relief efforts have been complicated by a civil war that has partitioned the country and wrecked its infrastructure. The first United Nations convoy carrying aid to northwest Syria since the quake crossed from Türkiye on Thursday, witnesses and a border official said.

The United Arab Emirates initially pledged assistance worth around $13.6m to Syria, including search and rescue teams, urgent relief supplies and emergency aid.

The UAE then pledged $100m to be split equally between Syria and Turkey on Tuesday – one of the largest sums yet. 

China said it was sending $5.9 million in emergency aid, including rescue and medical teams. Chinese emergency crews have already arrived in Türkiye and are aiding rescue efforts.

The European Union has mobilised 27 search and rescue and medical teams from 19 countries to help Türkiye, and is providing $7m in emergency humanitarian assistance to Türkiye and Syria.

Meanwhile the British government said it would match the first $6.09m in donations from the public, after a coalition of charities launched a public appeal on Thursday.

Australia said it would provide $7m in aid and deploy an urban search and rescue team of up to 72 people to Türkiye, while Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged $7.5m in immediate aid to both affected countries.

The U.S., Russia, Japan, Qatar, India and Pakistan have also pledged aid and deployed emergency crews.

Source(s): Reuters ,AP ,AFP

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