The head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, arrived in Turkey to show US support for his ally, which was devastated by an earthquake that killed more than 46,000 people in the country and neighboring Syria. Blinken was from Munich, Germany, where he attended a security conference. He landed at Incirlik Air Base in the south-east of the country.
From there, part of the humanitarian aid, especially American, is channeled to the areas affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake of February 6th.
In the afternoon, the Secretary of State will meet with military and humanitarian officials who are coordinating American assistance to victims of the disaster and, according to American sources, will take stock of ongoing humanitarian efforts in Hatay province.
The day after the earthquake that also struck northern Syria, the United States deployed several search and rescue teams to Turkey, about 200 people, and disbursed an initial tranche of $85 million in humanitarian aid.
They also provided Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters to haul supplies. The United Nations has asked for international help to raise $1 billion for Turkey.