UN relief chief says recovery phase is approaching in quake-hit Türkiye

KAHRAMANMARAS, Türkiye

A recovery phase is approaching in Türkiye's 10 earthquake-devastated provinces which will rely on humanitarian assistance, the UN relief chief said on Saturday.

"We're coming to the end of the rescue phase. And after the rescue phase comes the recovery phase. Typically that relies on humanitarian assistance. It relies on the beginning of planning for houses and apartments and buildings to be rebuilt," Martin Griffiths, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told Anadolu in Kahramanmaras, where the twin quakes were centered.

"And so that's the phase where my community, the humanitarian community, comes into play and that's why we're going to do an appeal tomorrow or the next day to raise money to provide funding for agencies to come and help the people who've been affected," he added.

On the housing situation, he said the Turkish government will be in the lead to rebuild destroyed houses, while the UN will be directing humanitarian assistance "for the emergency phase, for the period when they may have to live in temporary accommodation."

The second phase after the natural disasters could be more concerning not only in Türkiye but also in affected Syria as victims will need help with their livelihoods, food, and medicine, he stressed.

"We're very worried as you know about the second phase of a natural disaster of this size is often a medical one, where we have huge worries here and in Syria, of the health problems which have been going on treated," he said. "So agencies come in, the World Health Organization and others, to help give the people what they deserve."

Coming aid to be used 'rightly' in Türkiye

As a number of countries have already sent field hospitals to Türkiye, Griffiths said he is sure that Turkish government will coordinate which aid should be placed and where so the assistance can be successful.

"I'm quite sure that the aid that comes into Türkiye will be used in the right way and sent to the right places, but it's going to be a huge operation. We're just seeing the beginning of it," he said.

He added that the UN Humanitarian Office has agencies which can set up mobile clinics, which he called "incredibly important" at this stage.

Appeal for Syria to be launched within days

Stating that he will be able to see the situation in Syria himself in the next days, Griffiths said "it's reasonable to assume" that in northwest Syria, where people had already been suffering from the effects of the civil war since 2011, they must be suffering even more today.

"It's also going to be very important to get aid to those people," he said, adding that the UN also works in Syria, delivering assistance there by convoys coming daily from the Bab al-Hawa border gate in Cilvegozu, Türkiye towards Idlib, Syria.

He underlined that UN exists as a channel for every government to send their aid to Syria.

"That's why we will also be launching an appeal for Syria in the next couple of days for a three-month period," he stated.

Over 21,800 people were killed and over 80,000 others injured by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Monday, according to the latest official figures. Hope still endures as more survivors emerge from quake rubble on day six of rescue efforts.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, also including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of fewer than 10 hours.

In neighboring Syria, the death toll has climbed above 3,300, with more than 5,200 people wounded, according to compiled figures.