The death toll from the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria hardest at the beginning of the week has exceeded 15,000, and frustration is growing with the slow response from the authorities, writes Reuters.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is preparing for elections in May, visited the disaster-hit regions on Wednesday, the 8th of February, and said that rescue services are now working normally and no one will be left homeless.
Swaths of southern Turkey experience temperatures below zero, with survivors scrambling for shelter and food while others wait near piles of rubble under which their loved ones and friends still lie. The situation is similar in Syria, whose northern parts were hit particularly hard by the earthquake.
Prognosis are that the number of victims will continue to rise. In the Turkish city of Antakya, one survivor condemned the lack of rescue teams and said those who survived the earthquake would freeze and starve.
Many residents of disaster areas spend the night in cars or on the street while the air temperature drops below zero because they are afraid to return to buildings.
More than 298,000 people have been left homeless in Syria, and 180 shelters have been created, as reported by Syrian state media. UN humanitarian aid deliveries to northern Syria will resume on the 9th of February.
Turkish president, who has declared a state of emergency in ten regions of the country and sent the army to carry out rescue operations, visited Kahramanmaras province on the 8th of February. Speaking to the media, as emergency car sirens blared in the background, Erdogan said there were still problems with the roads to the airports, but the situation had improved.
Disaster has challenged Erdogan, who faces a tough election battle. Any indication that the government is failing to deal with the aftermath of the disaster could hurt Erdogan’s prospects.
On the 8th of February, access to Twitter was blocked in Turkey, and this happened when the public was actively using the platform to communicate and share information. Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has reported that the Turkish government plans to restore access to the platform.
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