The European Parliament approved an aid package worth 400 million euros provided by the European Union to Turkey to confront the effects of the earthquake that struck the south of the country on February 6.
In the vote held by the General Assembly of the European Parliament, the aid package was accepted with the approval of 593 members, against 11 against, and 22 members abstained from voting.
In her speech before the vote, Katalin Cseh, vice-chair of parliament’s liberal Renew Europe group (formerly known as the Liberal and Democratic Alliance for Europe – ALDE), said the EU’s solidarity and emergency reserve is extremely important and must be increased.
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Cseh stated that there are “attempts to cast doubt” on the aid that will be provided to Turkey after the devastating earthquakes.
She added: “We completely reject attempts to compare the tragedy of one country with the tragedy of another country. Turkey is a candidate country to join the European Union and legally deserves assistance, and attempts to prevent this are populist and divisive in nature.”
On February 6, two earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 in magnitude struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by thousands of violent aftershocks, leaving thousands dead and massive destruction.
