US announces $85 mn in aid for quake-hit Turkey, Syria

Following deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, the United States on Thursday released an initial $85 million package for humanitarian help.

The US Agency for International Development that the funding will go to partners on the ground "to deliver urgently needed aid for millions of people" including through food, shelter and emergency health services.

The funding will also support safe drinking water and sanitation to prevent the outbreak of disease, the agency said in a statement.

The announcement comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier Thursday spoke by telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss the NATO‍‍`s ally needs.

"We are proud to join the global efforts to help Turkey just as Turkey has so often contributed its own humanitarian rescue experts to so many other countries in the past," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters as he described the call.

The United States has already sent rescue teams to Turkey and has contributed concrete breakers, generators, water purification systems and helicopters, officials said.

Assistance in Syria is going through local partners as the United States refuses to deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as Washington demands accountability over abuses during the brutal civil war.