Turkey has offered up US$150 million (€124.88 million) to help survivors of South Asia's massive earthquake as NATO agreed to deploy hundreds of milit
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFTurkey has offered up US$150 million (€124.88 million) to help survivors of South Asia's massive earthquake as NATO agreed to deploy hundreds of military engineers and medics to bolster a relief effort that has only weeks left before the bitter winter begins.
In a sign of the desperation seeping into the Himalayan hills, survivors in one of many villages still awaiting help nearly two weeks after the Oct. 8 quake fought over food deliveries to their remote mountain hamlet.
Despite the disaster's magnitude, UN officials said the international response had fallen far short of the need.
So far, the UN had received only 27 percent of the US$312 million (€261 million) of its flash appeal for quake relief - compared with 80 percent pledged within 10 days of a similar appeal to international donors after the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Giving a big boost to relief efforts, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged US $150 million (€124 million) in cash and aid, making Turkey the biggest single donor nation yet.