The head of the United Nations World Food Program, David Beasley, said he faced “horrific” scenes while visiting the earthquake-stricken areas of southern Turkey.
After visiting the city of Antakya in the Turkish province of Hatay, Beasley said Saturday that “there is only one way to describe what I saw today: the end of the world.”
Strong earthquakes – which began on the sixth of February – shook southern Turkey and northern neighboring Syria. killing more than 50 thousand people.
The international official explained what he saw, saying that “entire neighborhoods were flattened, homes were destroyed, schools and shops were closed, and lives were lost. The extent of the destruction here is really unbelievable.”
On the Syrian side, Beasley said the situation there amounts to “disaster upon disaster”. Referring to the war that has been going on for 12 years.
Urgent need
The World Food Program said Beasley visited a United Nations logistics center, where trucks are being loaded with food and other emergency supplies before crossing into northwestern Syria. He stressed the urgent need to increase the delivery of foodstuffs to Syria “through all routes without any restrictions” and called on “all parties to facilitate that access.”
Forces opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad control the northwestern region of Syria, whose residents already depend on aid to meet basic needs, and that was the area most affected by the earthquake in Syria.
According to Reuters, the increase in aid shipments is linked to the opening of additional crossings from Turkey to areas controlled by opposition fighters.
One of the crossings, Bab al-Hawa, is already being used under a mandate from the UN Security Council, and al-Assad gave an exceptional permit to open two other crossings for a period of 3 months.
