JCC to Jusoor Post: Devastating Turkish-Syrian quakes did not affect Black Sea Grain Initiative

The 7.8- and 7.5-magnitude quakes that struck Syria and Turkey had no impact on the grain deal initiative co-brokered by Ankara and the United Nations to allow Ukrainian grains to be exported to the world through the Black Sea.

“The devastating earthquake has not impacted the operations conducted by the Joint Coordination Center under the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Center (JCC) told Jusoor Post.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey, is an agreement between the warring countries of Russia and Ukraine to allow the latter’s grains to be shipped through the Black Sea. The deal started in July 2022 and was extended for three months on November 17 but is due to end on March 18. The JCC, the body tasked with coordinating the shipments, consists of representatives from Russia, Ukraine, the UN and Turkey.

About 60 cargo ships have made it through the Black Sea since the occurrence of the massive twin earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, according to the latest update released by the JCC about the outbound shipments. Almost a quarter of these shipments were bound for Turkey, where, along with Syria, the earthquakes have so far claimed the lives of more than 46,000 people and injured hundreds of thousands of others.

So far, the initiative has managed to ship a total of 22,055,892 tons of grain, including 48% corn, 28% wheat, and 24% other grain products like sunflower meal and oil, according to the initiative’s UN website.

Recently, Russian and Ukrainian officials spoke about the possibility of extending the initiative further. Yuriy Vaskov, Ukraine's deputy minister of restoration, told Reuters in an interview that his country would ask to extend the deal for at least a year.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the discussions told RIA Novosti on February 20 that negotiations to extend the terms of the grain deal will begin in the coming days.

“The Black Sea Grain Initiative is about to expire. It is critical that these ports remain open. With 345 million people marching toward starvation, it MUST be renewed,” said World Food Program Chief David Beasley on his Twitter account.

Additional reporting by Samar Abdelrahman