The president of Syria Bashar al-Assad he admitted that the impact of last week’s deadly earthquakes had required more resources than the government had at its disposal and thanked the governments that extended a helping hand to his country.

It was Assad’s first televised address since last Monday’s earthquakes that killed more than 42,000 people in Turkey and Syria.

According to the Syrian government, 1,414 people were killed in areas under its control.

More than 4,000 deaths have been reported in areas controlled by anti-regime forces.

The United Nations has appealed for $400 million to meet the needs of Syria’s earthquake victims for the next three months.

Due to the earthquake, the international isolation in which Assad had fallen, after 11 years of civil war, was eased.

Many Arab states sent humanitarian aid, including Saudi Arabia, which had funded anti-regime forces in Syria.