By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- On Wednesday, Turkish President Erdogan was in Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of two deadly quakes that rocked 10 provinces on Monday. He plans to assess damage there and then continue to Hatay which is one of the provinces hardest hit. There was significant damage to the Hatay Airport where repairs began on Wednesday. The quakes have affected at least 13 million people, many of whom were left homeless after entire apartment buildings collapsed after the quakes. A plethora of other buildings were damaged with a number of apartment buildings incurring severe cracks and structural issues. Though many buildings that collapsed were reported to be at least 25 years old, some newer apartments fell after the quake as well. Erdogan announced on Wednesday from Kahramanmaras that new residences in the 10 provinces will be built and ready within a year. He added: “I believe that in the face of this very bad natural disaster that my people will show patience.” The Turkish leader said operations to remove debris will start by the operations of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.” Erdogan said he talked to the hotels and there is a significant capacity of rooms at those hotels. He said we will evacuate them and all their needs of food and drink will be met at those hotels and this will help facilitate the process. We have had some challenges on roads but tomorrow will get better he said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has deployed more than 150 search and rescue team personnel and has stated it is determined to assist Turkiye in any ways it can in overcoming this devastating disaster. Other foreign rescue teams began arriving in Turkiye on Tuesday with search and rescue teams from Taiwan, Israel, Bulgaria, Greece, the U.S., India, Japan and a host of other nations bringing rescue dogs with them to assist in searching for survivors. Erdogan said he talked to the hotels and there is a significant capacity of rooms at those hotels. He said we will evacuate those who want to go. Erdogan added that all their needs of food and drink will be met at those hotels and this will help facilitate the process of accomdating people. Hotels in Antalya, Alanya and Mersin are prepared to provide shelter for those made homeless by the quakes. As the Turkish president said: “We can never let our citizens stay on the street.” Erdogan also said that families will receive a gift of 10,000 TL to allow them to purchase essentials and whatever else they need.
In the epicenter province of Kharamanmaras, people are in dire need of food, water and supplies because of a heavy snowstorm that made travel especially difficult in getting essentials to victims of the quake. More international teams are now there to assist and people are lining up for petrol. Supplies are also coming in slowly but are expected to get to those in need. In addition, 11,000 tent cities have been set up in Kharamanmaras according to TRT World who report that people there are not only sad but angry and upset due to the tragedy that has put them in such a desperate situation. In addition, in other provinces like Diyarbakir, there are 7,000 people sheltered in tents and that because there are many rescue crews there, the press reports that it’s a province that is much better off than Hatay, right now. Currently, over 8,500 people have died in the quakes with over 50,000 people injured as of Wednesday February 8 with numbers expected to rise.The quakes that struck the 10 Turkish provinces are reported to be the strongest since the quake of 1939. The Turkish president announced a seven-day national mourning from February 6 -12 after the quakes hit the region. As well, nationwide in Turkiye, all schools will be closed until February 13 due to severe weather conditions across the country that is also affecting humanitarian aid delivery to affected provinces. Multiple nations have jumped in to assist in quake rescue missions and those include teams from Palestine, Germany, Poland, Russia and a number of other EU countries as well. Turkish citizens in the U.S. as well as in Europe have been packing and contributing aid for quake victims in Turkiye. Multiple volunteers from throughout Turkiye as well as Europe are crucial to assisting quake victims and are being sent to
