On Saturday, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, described the devastating earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria as “the worst event in the region in 100 years.”
This came in a press conference held by Griffiths after his arrival in the Turkish state of Kahramanmaraş, which was hit by an earthquake last Monday.
“I’m here to make sure these people” affected by the quake are not forgotten, Griffiths said.
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The UN official praised Turkey’s response to the earthquake, describing it as “extraordinary” and praising the “courage of the first responders to the disaster, who are working around the clock.”
Griffiths added that the earthquake was “the worst event in the region in 100 years.”
He said he would launch a three-month operation aimed at helping pay for rescue and relief operations in Turkey and Syria.
At the dawn of February 6, an earthquake of 7.7 degrees struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by another hours later with a magnitude of 7.6 and hundreds of violent aftershocks, which caused great losses in lives and property in both countries.