The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday pledged $100 million to Syria and Türkiye, one of many largest sums but following an enormous earthquake that has killed hundreds.
Fellow Gulf nation Saudi Arabia, which severed diplomatic ties with the Bashar Assad regime in 2012, additionally mentioned it might present help.
The oil-rich UAE – which had already pledged some $13.6 million to Syria – is spearheading regional reduction efforts, having dispatched planes to each nations with reduction objects and rescue groups following the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck early on Monday.
On Tuesday, Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan “ordered the provision of $100 million for the relief of those affected”, the official WAM news company mentioned. The sum can be equally cut up between Syria and Türkiye, with every getting $50 million, in accordance with the news company.
It was not instantly clear if the funds for Syria included the $13.6 million beforehand introduced.
Major General Saleh al-Ameri, commander of joint operations on the UAE’s Defence Ministry, mentioned on Tuesday that three army planes had been dispatched to Türkiye, carrying search and rescue groups who’ve since commenced operations. A complete of seven flights are deliberate to the quake-hit nations, together with two to the Syrian capital Damascus, he instructed native media.
Syria’s SANA news company mentioned on Tuesday that an Emirati aircraft carrying 10 tonnes of meals provides had arrived on the Damascus worldwide airport.
Saudi assist
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday ordered the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre “to provide health, shelter, food and logistical assistance” to Syria and Türkiye, the official SPA news company mentioned.
It will even launch a public donation marketing campaign for quake victims in each nations, the SPA added.
The oil-rich Gulf kingdom has backed teams against Bashar Assad through the struggle, and a few of Syria’s exiled opposition figures are based mostly in Riyadh.
But lately, Saudi Arabia has softened its stance towards the Bashar Assad regime and senior Syrian regime officers have mentioned that cooperation efforts had been underway.
Saudi Arabia is the globe’s largest crude exporter and the Arab world’s strongest financial system.
The help announcement additionally follows a latest rapprochement with Türkiye and after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Ankara in June final yr. Ties between the 2 nations had been strained following the 2018 homicide of journalist Jamal Khashoggi within the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate.
The UAE, in the meantime, reopened its embassy within the Syrian capital in December 2018, suggesting an effort to cooperate with the Bashar Assad regime after years of boycott. In March final yr, Bashar Assad paid a go to to the UAE – his first to an Arab state in additional than a decade of the brutal civil struggle.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
