In the earthquake regions in Syria and Turkey, more and more bodies are being recovered from the remains of collapsed buildings in the search for buried people. The Turkish authorities corrected the number of confirmed victims several times on Wednesday – more than 11,700 people died in the two countries. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised those affected financial support and at the same time acknowledged difficulties in rescue operations.
Erdogan admits mistakes in crisis management
During his visit to the southern province of Hatay, Erdogan said: “Of course there are deficits. You can see the conditions quite clearly.” At the same time, he defended police officers and soldiers from the criticism that arose after the earthquake. These are “honorable.” Anyone who claims that there are no soldiers and police officers on site is “dishonorable and dishonest,” said the Turkish head of state. His government will not allow the emergency services to be talked about in this way. More than 21,000 helpers are deployed in Hatay province, including soldiers and police officers. During a visit to Kahramanmaras, the Turkish President promised the affected families 10,000 Turkish lira (around 500 euros) in emergency aid. “Of course there were some problems on the first day, but on the second day and today the situation was managed.”
Previously, there had been strong criticism from the population that they were being abandoned by the authorities during the salvage work. Reporters from the AFP news agency saw people bare-handed searching for relatives in the rubble and spoke to angry residents who had waited in vain for promised tents, food and equipment.
Many people in the affected regions also complained bitterly about the Turkish government’s disaster management on the Internet. But at the time of Erdogan’s visit to the earthquake regions, the short message service Twitter was largely unavailable. Users in Turkey and network traffic observatory netblocks.org reported that access to Twitter was restricted by several ISPs.
In Turkey, the catastrophe is increasingly becoming a domestic political issue: Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the largest opposition party CHP, accused President Erdogan of failing to manage the crisis. The president failed to prepare the country for such an earthquake during his 20-year reign.
Berlin increases aid
Meanwhile, international aid has been stepped up. In Berlin, for example, the federal government increased its humanitarian aid for Syria and Turkey by a further 26 million euros. According to the Federal Foreign Office, a total of 25 million euros are earmarked for two United Nations relief funds and one million for the Malteser relief service. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said in the Bundestag that Germany is delivering aid to Turkey and is in close contact with the United Nations to bring humanitarian aid to the Syrian earthquake area.