Press Release of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity

The Pope sends 10,000 medicines for earthquake victims in Turkey

28 March 2023

The Almoner of His Holiness, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, together with the Turkish Embassy to the Holy See, has coordinated this third round of aid

A new gesture of proximity by Pope Francis for those affected by the devastating earthquake that shook the area on the border between Turkey and Syria on 6 February, with a death toll of over 50,000. The Dicastery for the Service of Charity, on behalf of the Pontiff, is sending medicines for the population, in collaboration with the Turkish Embassy to the Holy See. From yesterday to today, 10,000 medicines are arriving on board airliners in Turkey.

Immediately after the earthquake, which displaced almost 2 million people in Turkey, the Office of Papal Charities had mobilized by sending mainly canned food, as well as nappies and other material to meet the most urgent needs. About 10,000 thermal shirts arrived in Iskenderun to be distributed between Turkey and Syria. A second dispatch of three pallets of medicines was recorded on 23 February.