Live: Magnitude 7.8 earthquake hits Turkey, shakes region
Yasmeen Altaji | Feb. 5, 2023 | Updated Feb. 9
Feb 9: US authorizes relief to Syria otherwise prohibited by sanctions
The US Treasury on Thursday issued a general license allowing earthquake assistance usually prohibited by sanctions to reach Syria.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which oversees US economic and trade sanctions, said in a statement a 180-day general license authorizes “all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations (SySR).”
“Our deepest condolences go out to the people of Türkiye and Syria for the tragic loss of life and destruction in the wake of devastating earthquakes,”Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in the statement. “As international allies and humanitarian partners mobilize to help those affected, I want to make very clear that U.S. sanctions in Syria will not stand in the way of life-saving efforts for the Syrian people.”
According to the Treasury, Thursday’s authorization expands upon “broad humanitarian authorizations already in effect” for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations (IOs) and the U.S. government under current sanctions.
The move follows public calls for an end to sanctions on Syria as it faces dire effects of the high-magnitude earthquake that originated in Turkey on Monday. US and Europe maintain sanctions on the Bashar Assad government in Damascus that agencies report have caused delays in earthquake relief.
The authorization expires Aug. 8, 2023.
Feb. 8: Church leaders in Syria call for an end to sanctions
Three church leaders in Syria have released an open call for an end to sanctions hurdling delivery of aid to parts of the country devasted by Monday’s earthquake.
John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch; Ignatius Aphrem II, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch; and Joseph I, Greek Catholic Melkite Patriarch “and the heads of the churches in Syria” said in a statement they “demand…the United Nations and the countries imposing sanctions on Syria to lift the embargo.”
Sanctions on the Bashar Assad government in Damascus by the U.S. and European countries have caused delays in aid that could cost lives, AP reports.
Most of Syria is controlled by Assad’s government, but areas in the northwest is divided between de-facto control by Turkey and rebel groups linked to al-Qaida. The country’s northeast is primarily held by U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces in what is known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Update: Feb. 7: Countries and organizations mobilize to send aid as death toll climbs
Relief efforts have begun to mobilize in the first day after a catastrophic earthquake in Turkey effected the country’s southeast and numerous neighbors.
The death toll surpassed 7,000 on Tuesday and is expected to climb as search and rescue missions continue.
Several countries and agencies have pledged aid to those affected in Turkey and Syria, including the UK and search and rescue teams from the United Nations and European Union. The EU has mobilized 27 search and rescue and medical teams from 19 European countries, Janez Lenarčič, the Union’s commissioner for crisis management said on Twitter. The United Nations has allocated $25 million in emergency funding to aid those affected by the quakes.
As tolls climb, Assyrian communities continue attempts to reach community members in areas of Turkey facing severe effects of the quake. New reports of deaths within the Assyrian community travel by word of mouth and updates form organizations with volunteers on the ground as many try to establish contact with those in affected areas. Assyrians Without Borders, a Sweden-based nonprofit, reported nine Assyrians dead in Diyarbakir, Turkey. The organization did not respond to requests for comment.
Update: Feb. 6, 1:00 p.m. CT: Assyrian officials, residents report minor effects in community hubs in Iraq, Syria; extent of damage in Turkey remains unclear
As parts of southeastern Turkey and Syria reel from the damage of two high-magnitude earthquakes in the span of one day, Assyrian community hubs in the two countries and in Iraq remain largely unscathed, according to local residents and officials.
Yosif Bektash, an Assyrian resident of Mardin, Turkey, in the province Tur Abdin, said his area was relatively safe from damage.
“The earthquake hit us… it was strong and frightening, but no damage happened here in Mardin or Tur Abdin,” he told The Word in a message. “Houses and buildings didn’t fall.”
Meanwhile, Bektash said, areas including Diyarbakir, Adıyaman, Antakya, Urfa and Iskenderun — all cities in Turkey’s southeastern region — have endured the effects of the double quake. The extent of total damage remains unclear, and communication shortages have limited contact with people in the affected region.
“We can’t reach anyone by phone…phone lines are down following the earthquake,” Bektash said.
A Syriac Orthodox church in Adıyaman, slightly northeast of the quake’s epicenter in Gaziantep, has reportedly endured damage to its facade. Church administrators could not be reached for comment.
Sargon Donabed, a professor of history at Roger Williams University, told The Word the majority of Assyrian families in southeastern Turkey now reside in what is known as the Tur Abdin region, comprised of the cities of Midyat and Mardin as well as the the surrounding villages.
The towns of Diyarbakır, Urfa, Harput and Adıyaman were historically home to sizeable Assyrian populations that have dwindled over time, although some communities remain in smaller numbers, according to Donabed. The largest exodus were during what the Assyrian community recognizes as the Assyrian genocide of 1915 and during fighting between the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and the Turkish government, he said.
Iraq
Two members of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa, ADM) have reported some evacuations and no major damage in Erbil.
Yacoob G. Yaco, Deputy Secretary General of ADM, told The Word in a message that the effects of the quake reached northern Iraqi cities including Erbil and Duhok as well as areas of the Nineveh Plain.
“People felt its strength and went out of their homes into the streets,” he said. “There is no material or human damage as a result of this earthquake in Iraq.”
Fareed Yacoob, a member of ADM’s political bureau, told The Word on Monday: “Here in Iraq, there wasn’t much damage, but people were scared because [the earthquake] hit twice, and it was very strong.”
Syria
Areas in Syria with known dense Assyrian populations in the country’s northeast have been relatively undamaged.
Hussam Alkass, a resident of northeastern Syria along the Iraqi-Syrian-Turkish borders, told The Word in a message: “We are fine, and until now, there is no final toll of the damage.”
Mouris Amsih, Archbishop of the Jazira and Euphrates diocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Syria, told The Word the area of the diocese, which falls under the de-facto jurisdiction of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), is shaken but undamaged.
“We feel confused from the big earthquake at night and today at noon, but — thank God — nobody is injured in Jazira, Hasakah or Qamishli.”
Update: Feb. 6, 2023: Turkey and Syria death toll exceeds 1,500 as second quake hits
More than 1,500 have been killed and thousands injured after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria early Monday morning, officials and news agencies report.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported 326 deaths and 1,042 injuries in an “infinite toll”, citing Syria’s health ministry.
The White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in Syria’s north, said on Twitter deaths in the country’s northwest have exceeded 221 with more than 400 injuries. Agencies reported aftershocks had struck Syria in the early afternoon at a magnitude of 7.6, also reaching Iraq.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said more than 4o countries have offered assistance with search and rescue efforts.
A high-power earthquake hit southern Turkey early Monday morning, with effects felt in Syria, Iraq, Cyprus, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake’s epicenter was located near the cities of Nurdağı and Gaziantep along Turkey’s southern border with Syria, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake was most intense in the two countries, but it has impacted neighbors across the region.
Photos and video from journalists and residents showed scenes of evacuation, people standing outside in the early hours of the morning in several cities.
Stella Martany, a resident of Erbil, Iraq, told The Word in a message she felt tremors around 4:20 a.m.
“Everything is quiet where I live because we live in houses, however, my friends who live in tall apartment buildings all evacuated,” she said. “I think some slept in their cars because they were afraid to go back to their buildings.”
Martany said that as of Monday, she had not heard any official advisories.
In Syria, The White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in the country’s north, posted on Twitter footage of “evacuation and first aid operations” following the quake. According to the group, people have been trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information is confirmed.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comment from a resident of Erbil.