Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): According to Turkey's TRT channel, after an aerial visit of Blinken from the earthquake-stricken areas of Turkey at Incirlik Air Base, which is a joint US-Turkey base for the distribution of relief aid, said: Relief efforts will be long-term.
He added: Considering the amount of damage, the number of destroyed buildings and apartments, a lot of effort is needed for reconstruction.
America had previously announced an aid of 85 million dollars for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.
Blinken explained: The new aid includes $50 million in emergency funds for displaced persons and migrants and $50 million in humanitarian aid.
This is the first visit of the US Secretary of State to Turkey, as a Washington ally in NATO, since Blinken took office two years ago.
Together with Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, he visited Hatay province of Turkey by air.
Blinken is scheduled to travel to Ankara later Sunday for talks with Turkish officials, including a planned meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In addition to the earthquake issue, Blinken is expected to discuss Sweden and Finland's NATO membership, which Turkey has opposed.
Turkey has announced that these two countries, especially Sweden, have not taken sufficient action to fight terrorism.
Turkey's disaster management announced on Sunday night that the number of victims of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in this country has exceeded 41 thousand.
A big earthquake shook southern Turkey and northern Syria last Monday morning (February 13).
During this earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale at 04:17 in the morning, many buildings were damaged and search and rescue teams are removing the debris and rescuing those trapped under the debris.
Following this earthquake, Turkish President Erdogan announced a week of public mourning in the country.
Many countries of the world expressed sympathy and solidarity with the government and peoples of Turkey and Syria.
According to the report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, currently, about 5,753 foreigners from 67 countries are working in this country for search and rescue operations.