Austria is supporting the emergency relief fund of the World Food Program of the United Nations (WFP) with six million euros to help people in the Turkish earthquake zone. According to Minister of Agriculture Norbert Totschnig (ÖVP), resources from the special pot for international food aid have been made available for this purpose.
“It is indescribable what suffering the people in the earthquake zone must endure. More than 9 million people – as many as live in Austria – are affected by the consequences of this devastating earthquake,” emphasized Totschnig, who visited the earthquake area on Wednesday. About a million people have benefited from WFP support, the agriculture minister said. “Each day, about 900,000 people receive hot meals and about 100,000 people, mostly families, receive food packages.”
Austria also supports Turkey in rebuilding and repairing farms, as Totschnig stressed. The agriculture minister explained that he had reached an agreement on the spot with the Turkish agriculture minister to intensify exchanges in agriculture, forestry and water management.
Two earthquakes brought massive suffering and destruction
On February 6, two magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes shook southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. As a result, more than 56,000 people died. In Turkey alone, more than 300,000 buildings were destroyed and severely or moderately damaged. The affected region in Turkey is known as the Fertile Crescent. Almost 15 percent of the gross domestic agricultural product and 20 percent of Turkey’s food exports came from there. Exact figures about the situation in Syria are hardly available.
Source: Krone
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