Blinken tours Turkey’s earthquake zone, pledges $100M in aid

By ANDREW WILKS
Associated Press

ISTANBUL (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has taken a helicopter tour of one of the provinces worst-affected by the Feb. 6 earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria. The secretary of state is making his first trip to NATO ally Turkey since he took office. Blinken arrived at Incirlik Air Base on Sunday after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany. He pledged a further $100 million in disaster aid to help the region devastated by the earthquake that has killed at least 44,000 people. Speaking at the air base, he said, “The search and rescue, unfortunately, is coming to an end. The recovery is on, and then there will be a massive rebuilding operation.”