EBRD, employees raise over €750,000 for quake victims in southern Türkiye

By Nuran Erkul

LONDON (AA) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and its staff have on Thursday pledged to donate €750,000 (about $795,000) for earthquake victims in southern Türkiye.

A group of EBRD employees launched the ongoing community initiative to help the region home to over 13 million people and hit by back-to-back quakes earlier this month.

The fundraiser has already reached over €250,000, with the donation page still open as of Thursday. According to information on the donation page, the EBRD Community Initiative vowed to donate double the amount given by staff up to a limit of €500,000 from the Community Special Fund, for a total of over €750,000.

Set to go through civil society organizations, the funds will be used to meet priority needs in the disaster zone.

The death toll from the powerful Feb. 6 earthquakes has risen to 43,556 as of Wednesday.

The powerful quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and shook 10 other provinces -- Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.