EU pledges $1 billion for post-quake Turkey reconstruction

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission will support Turkey with one billion euros ($1.07 billion) to help with reconstruction in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated parts of the country and neighboring Syria last month. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU’s executive arm, also pledged 108 million euros ($115.7) in humanitarian aid for Syria at the opening of an international donors’ conference in Brussels gathering the bloc’s international partners and seeking to raise money for both countries. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Feb. 6 killed more than 52,000 people — the vast majority in Turkey.