The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on Thursday its intention “to invest up to 1.5 billion euros” over the next two years in the regions of Türkiye affected by the devastating earthquakes in February.
In a statement, the London-based institution explained that it wanted to “support the recovery, reconstruction and reintegration of the region’s economy” in order to preserve “livelihoods and jobs in the affected towns.”
“This is one of the most devastating crises seen in Türkiye and indeed in Europe for over a century and the impact on the population and the economy is extremely severe,” said Arvid Tuerkner, EBRD’s managing director for Türkiye, quoted in the statement.
The investment will include €600 million in credit lines to local banks for directly affected businesses and individuals, as well as new loans to companies involved in recovery and reconstruction efforts in the region.
The EBRD says it wants to support the rebuilding of “sustainable infrastructure” and will also focus funds on rebuilding the rail network to restore connectivity between the southeast region and the rest of the country.
On February 6, a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 on the Richter scale shook the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş, causing huge damage in the localities of Gaziantep, Adana, Malatya, among others in addition to the epicenter.
A few hours after this first violent tremor, another earthquake struck north of the city of Gaziantep with almost the same intensity and near the epicenter of the first earthquake, which worsened the toll of the disaster that exceeded 46,000 dead and 105,000 injured.
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