President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkiye admitted the government’s fault for the first time on the 10th (local time), saying that the government’s response to the earthquake did not proceed as quickly as expected.
The previous day, he said that the government had shortcomings, but that it was impossible to respond to such a disaster, and went further to admit its fault.
“Unfortunately we were unable to intervene as quickly as we would like because too many buildings were damaged,” Erdogan said during a visit to the earthquake-stricken southern city of Adiyaman, according to AFP.
President Erdogan said the earthquake killed 19,388 people and injured 77,711 in Turkey alone.
He said the Turkiye government had summoned “the world’s largest search and rescue force,” comprising 141,000 people across the 10 affected provinces.
President Erdogan lamented, “Nevertheless, the reality is that the search operation did not proceed as quickly as we had hoped.”
According to Reuters, Erdogan said at the meeting that some people were robbing markets and plundering businesses taking advantage of the disaster, and warned that the state could impose the necessary punishment in such cases, according to the state of emergency declared in the region.
After a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on the morning of the 6th and a series of aftershocks such as a 7.5-magnitude earthquake, residents in the affected areas strongly criticized the government for not dispatching emergency responders in time.
Regarding this public opinion, President Erdogan criticized “opportunists who want to turn this suffering into their own political gain.”
About 24.4 million people were affected by the quake in an area stretching about 450 kilometers from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, according to Turkish officials and the United Nations. In Syria, deaths have even occurred in Hama, which is 250 kilometers away from the epicenter.
Currently, the evacuation of the affected area continues. As numerous buildings were destroyed, tent villages for the victims were built everywhere, and they are enduring the cold by stamping their feet in sub-zero temperatures.
President Erdogan also visited the tent village and promised that the government would pay the rent for one year if they moved to another area, saying, “We will rebuild the damaged buildings within one year and return them to the residents.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.