He added: “We will rebuild and revive all our cities that were destroyed by the earthquake, with their infrastructure and superstructures, and their historical and cultural places.” He stressed that Turkey will continue to provide the necessary facilities for the transfer of material humanitarian aid from other countries to those affected by the earthquake in Syria.
Erdogan praised the international solidarity, saying: “We will never forget the solidarity shown by all our friends, the European Union, the United Nations and other international organizations in these difficult days”.
In a related context, international donors pledged during the conference to provide seven billion euros to help the populations of Turkey and Syria affected by the earthquake, which caused material damage estimated in over 100 billion euros.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christson, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said: “I am proud to announce that we will see significant additional support. Total pledges today amount to seven billion euros.”
For her part, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said that around 950 million euros will go to affected populations in Syria, while most of the aid pledges will go to Turkey, which has recorded the largest losses due to the earthquake that killed more than 56,000 people in the two countries.
Von der Leyen welcomed “a good day for international solidarity”, but stressed that the conference, which was attended by more than 60 delegations, “is only the beginning”, noting that the dedicated donor conference will be held only to the Syrian people in Brussels on June 14 and 15.