Governor of Aleppo Hussein Diab handed over a letter of gratitude to the Armenian rescuers helping Syria’s efforts to search for survivors and fight the consequences of the February 6 devastating earthquake.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, reducing huge swaths of towns and cities to mountains of broken concrete and twisted metal. The death toll has surpassed 35,000, the Associated Press said.

One day after the quake truck, Armenia sent rescue missions and humanitarian aid to both Turkey and Syria.

Syria’s president agreed to open two new crossing points from Turkey to the country’s rebel-held northwest to deliver desperately needed aid and equipment for millions of earthquake victims, the United Nations announced.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the decision by Syrian leader Bashar Assad to open crossing points at Bab Al-Salam and Al Raée for an initial period of three months. Currently, the U.N. has only been allowed to deliver aid to the northwest Idlib area through a single crossing at Bab Al-Hawa.