Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived at Incirlik Air Force Base on Sunday. This is an official visit to discuss how Washington can further assist Turkey after the horrific earthquake the country (and Syria) experienced on February 6. Blinken reassured those with whom he met that the U.S. government will provide long-term help to Ankara as it rebuilds.

It is Blinken’s first trip to Turkey since becoming Secretary of State. In contrast, Hillary Clinton and Rex Tillerson both visited Turkey within the first three months in office. Blinken’s trip to Turkey has been planned for some time but he is only now getting around to going. The relationship between the United States and Turkey has been dicey since 2019 when the country acquired Russian missile defense systems. The United States has praised Turkey for its actions during Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Turkey’s close relationship with Moscow presents a problem for the Biden administration. It’s a bad time to be cozy with Putin and his brutal regime in Russia.

After landing in Incirlik, Blinken took a helicopter ride with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to observe an aerial view of the devastation caused by the earthquake in the southern Hatay province, one of the hardest hit. He announced some substantial aid to complement what the U.S. has already contributed to earthquake relief efforts.

Since the earthquake, the United States has sent a search and rescue team to Turkey, along with medical supplies, concrete-breaking machinery, and additional funding of $85 million in humanitarian aid that also covers Syria.

Blinken also said that President Joe Biden intends to authorize $50 million in Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Funds (ERMA) in response to earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

With the additional $50 million delivered through the State Department and USAID, total U.S. humanitarian assistance to support the earthquake response in Turkey and Syria reached $185 million, the U.S. State Department said.

Blinken spoke about his loss for words after the aerial tour of the damage. Search and rescue operations are coming to an end, two weeks after the earthquake occurred. Blinken said the U.S. effort will be a long-term effort.

“When you see the extent of the damage, the number of buildings, the number of apartments, the number of homes that have been destroyed, it is going to take a massive effort to rebuild but we are committed to supporting Turkey in that effort,” he said.

“The most important thing right now is getting assistance to people … Simply put, the United States is here.”

Sources familiar with Blinken’s schedule say that he will hold further bilateral talks in Ankara today with Cavusoglu. He is also expected to meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The talks are expected to address the stalled NATO applications of Sweden and Finland. Turkey has refused to ratify them so far. In particular, Turkey says that Sweden has harbored members of terrorist groups. Erdogan said last month that he is open to ratifying Finland’s application. Specifically, Turkey wants Finland and Sweden to take a tougher stand against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkey considers it a terrorist group, as does the European Union.

So, Blinken pledged an additional $100 million in aid in addition to what the U.S. has already contributed to earthquake relief. It will take years for Turkey and Syria to recover from the two earthquakes that measured magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.5. More than 46,000 people have been counted as killed so far and that number will rise. An untold number of people are still unaccounted for in the ruins. Hundreds of thousands of apartments were destroyed.

“The most important thing right now is to get assistance to people who need it, to get them through the winter and to get them back on their feet. We’ll stick with it until we get the job done.”

There are some good stories coming out during the rescue efforts. Adults and children have survived among the rubble and are rescued alive after days of being trapped without water or food. A furry friend or two has been rescued, too. One rescue worker adopted a cat he pulled from the rubble. Even in the worst of catastrophes, glimmers of hope can be found.