The United Nations General Assembly is meeting in New York to discuss its priorities for 2023.
Before the session began it held a minute of silence for the victims of the earthquake in
Earlier, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said teams from the United Nations are “on the ground assessing the needs and providing assistance”.
The scale of the disaster in Türkiye is “widespread and devastating”, according to an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Almost 1,500 people have been confirmed dead in Türkiye and more than 800 in neighbouring Syria, with the death toll expected to continue rising.
lnur Cevik says resources are not the problem in trying to find survivors, but rather that it’s a race against time.
“You are working against time,” he told BBC World Service’s Newshour programme.
“The adverse weather conditions and people that are under the rubble, you have to save them before the weather drops in and kills these people because of the cold, so people who are now under the rubble, there’s a mad rush to get them out.
“We have radars, body sensors, but you know there’s so much widespread devastation that you can’t reach everywhere – some of it you have to listen [for]… [People are asked to stay] silent so that they can hear some people calling for help.”
World Leaders have pledged there support, offering assistance and support to the countries.
Israel has said it will send search and rescue and medical teams to both Turkey and Syria.
