President Tayyip Erdogan visited southern Turkey on February 8 to check on the extent of the damage and oversee rescue efforts for earthquake victims.
| President Tayyip Erdogan. Image: Archyde.com. |
Speaking to reporters in the city of Kahramanmaras, President Erdogan said that roads and airports were all damaged by the earthquake. Archyde.com news. However, the Turkish leader promised the damage would be repaired soon.
Earlier, President Erdogan declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces located in the area affected by the earthquake. The Turkish military has been deployed to join the rescue effort.
The Turkish government is facing great pressure from the people when the progress of search and rescue work is still slow. Rescue work faced many challenges as the scale of damage and cold weather threatened the trapped survivors.
Discontent began to surface in the quake-affected area, with many criticizing the slow efforts to rescue and assist victims.
“We are living in tents, the food delivery truck is nowhere to be found. We may survive the earthquake, but will probably die of hunger and cold,” said one person living in Antakya. She still hasn’t seen any rescue teams.
Many people in the earthquake area are sleeping in their cars on the streets, they do not dare to return to buildings due to fear of further aftershocks.
“Tomorrow and the days after that will be better. There are still some fuel problems, but we will solve them,” Erdogan said.
By February 8, the death toll from the February 6 earthquake had surpassed 8,500. In neighboring Syria, the death toll has reached more than 2,500, according to government and aid organizations.
The Turkish government said more than 3.5 million people were affected by the quake, and thousands of homes were destroyed.
The World Health Organization’s senior official in Europe, Catherine Smallwood, said the death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria could rise to more than 20,000.
“It’s likely that we’ll see new crashes, so we usually see an eight-fold increase in the initial number,” she said.
In Turkey, more than 79,000 people are participating in the search and rescue work after the disaster on February 6.
The earthquake on February 6 creates a great challenge for President Erdogan in the context of general elections that will take place in May. The election is considered the most difficult for Mr. Erdogan in 20 years.