LIVE UPDATES: Death Toll From Turkiye Earthquake Exceeds 12,000

Rescue teams with equipment are what Turkiye and Syria need the most following the devastating earthquakes, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told Sputnik.

"We see a major challenge in those areas where you don't have rescue search and rescue teams with equipment that is needed and with necessary machinery that is required," Castellanos said.

Turkiye and Syria were rattled on Monday by a pair of major earthquakes and dozens of aftershocks that killed more than 10,000 people and collapsed thousands of homes. Syria's death toll has topped 1,200 people.

Russian rescue teams are working on the ground in both countries. In Syria, Russian military are involved in rescue operations.

According to the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), the death toll from the quakes has risen to 12,391, while the number of injured is estimated at 62,914.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) estimates its cumulative initial response to the earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria at 200 million Swiss francs ($217 million), IFRC Under-Secretary-General for Operations Coordination Xavier Castellanos told Sputnik.

"We came out with an emergency bill of 200 million Swiss francs: 120 million goes to Turkey, and 80 million to Syria," Castellanos said in an interview.

This amount is expected to cover a 12-month period of time, he noted.

The IFRC will need several months to determine the final amount of relief aid necessary to respond to the Turkiye-Syria earthquake, according to Castellanos.

The two countries were rattled on Monday by a pair of major earthquakes and dozens of aftershocks that killed more than 10,000 people and collapsed thousands of homes.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres will send his emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths to Turkiye to assess the country's needs as it recovers from a deadly earthquake that hit earlier this week, a UN source told Sputnik.

Turkish authorities are planning to resume the work of two border checkpoints with Syria to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid after devastating earthquakes hit the two nations, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.

The minister recalled that the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing is operating within the United Nations, but the roads leading to the checkpoint in Syria were destroyed after the earthquakes, making it difficult to deliver humanitarian aid to the victims.

"In this regard, we are working to reopen two more checkpoints. This is a question of humanity, not politics, so we are working to ensure that these checkpoints are also open from the side controlled by the Syrian regime," Cavusoglu said in a televised appearance on national television.

The minister added that Turkiye has authorized the use of its airspace for Syrian aid planes bound for Aleppo airport, controlled by the authorities in Damascus. Some planes brought humanitarian aid to both nations, and Ankara transferred the aid to Damascus as the situation there is no less catastrophic.

The EU aims to bring together neighboring countries, UN members, international lenders and other stakeholders. The conference will be co-chaired by EU Neighborhood Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi and Swedish International Development Cooperation Minister Johan Forssell.

Due to the fact that Kahramanmaras is located on the hills in the midlands and its streets are very narrow, the buildings already damaged in prior quakes are suffering continuous collapses during ongoing aftershocks, Martynov said.

"At the moment, 9,057 people were killed, 52,979 were injured," Erdogan said.

It is also working closely with US European Command on options to send support to Turkiye.

Firefighters, aviation of Turkiye's ministry of defense and ministry of agriculture of Turkiye, as well as other specialists, who arrived from various cities in Turkiye, are participating in the operation.