ADANA, Turkey – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pledged the alliance’s support in housing thousands of people displaced by last week’s earthquakes, as the death toll from the disaster passed 42,000 across Turkey and Syria.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, of which Turkey is a member, is airlifting tens of thousands of tents to Turkey in the coming days and weeks, Mr Stoltenberg said at a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Mr Stoltenberg said the US, Britain, the Netherlands and Norway were already sending aid to Turkey with military aircraft and were involved in medical evacuations. He also met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, but the two did not meet the press afterwards.
The earthquakes on February 6 have thrown Turkey into one of the world’s most severe homelessness crises, with experts estimating that at least two million people have lost their homes.
Turkey’s total share of property damage from the earthquake is expected to reach around $20 billion, with insurance losses estimated at $2.4 billion, said risk modeler Karen Clark & Co. The Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation said this week that total economic damage could reach at least $84 billion, with the amount needed to rebuild homes, infrastructure and shelter.
The NATO aid pledge comes amid Ankara’s opposition to Sweden and tensions with Turkey over Finland’s bids for membership of the alliance, which was submitted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey has threatened to veto Sweden’s application over Stockholm’s alleged ties to and patronage of Kurdish militant groups.
The process was further derailed after Mr Erdogan threatened to block Sweden’s entry into NATO in response to the public burning of a Koran by a right-wing Danish-Swedish politician in Stockholm, an incident which the Swedish government also criticized. was condemned
Hungary, another NATO member that has not yet ratified the two Nordic countries’ applications, has said it will do so later this year.
During his visit to the Turkish capital, Mr. Stoltenberg expressed his gratitude to Finland and Sweden for their contribution to earthquake assistance in Turkey.
“I also welcome the contribution of our invitees, Finland and Sweden, in showing solidarity in action. In particular, I thank Sweden for its initiative to hold an international donor conference in March,” Mr. Stoltenberg said.
Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, is co-chairing an international donor conference with the European Commission in March, which was organized in cooperation with Turkey.
Sweden and Finland—which jointly applied to join NATO—have agreed to address Turkey’s extradition requests for alleged Kurdish militants. Sweden has also said it will tighten its terrorism laws, giving authorities broad powers to detain and prosecute alleged supporters of terrorist organisations.
Turkey says it is waiting for Sweden to take more concrete action against the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, a separatist group Ankara has been fighting for decades. Turkey has said it is willing to evaluate Finland’s NATO application separately from Sweden, the two Nordic nations having been hesitant over their shared border and security landscape.
“The promises made to Turkey should not only be put into words but also put into action,” Mr. Cavusoglu said. “They took this action to stop terrorist financing, recruitment and propaganda. They should ban the PKK the same way they ban ISIS propaganda.”
The death toll from the earthquake in Turkey has reached 36,187, according to the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency.