Turkish President Recep Erdogan acknowledged for the first time this Thursday that relief efforts “are not moving as quickly as expected,” five days after the earthquake hit Turkey and Syria.
“The destruction affected so many buildings (…) that unfortunately we could not carry out our interventions as quickly as expected”admitted the Turkish head of state during a visit to the city of Adiyaman, one of the most affected by the earthquake.
On Wednesday, Erdogan had already acknowledged “gaps” in the earthquake response, adding that it is “impossible to be prepared for a disaster of this magnitude”.
The Turkish president – who has been in power for 20 years and plans to run again in elections scheduled for May 14 – has been heavily criticized by survivors, who accuse him of the slowness of aid delivery.
In Adiyaman, one of the earthquake’s victims, Mehmet Yildirim, said he had not seen anyone at the disaster site until 34 hours after the initial quake, accusing authorities of “abandoning” the population.
Many people lament the lack of material resources, such as lifting equipment, and human resources, such as rescuers.
“During this period there may have been breakdowns, technical problems, but we are on the side of our people by all means”Erdogan assured in response to the criticism, recalling that his government had managed to organize “probably the largest rescue team in the world”, with 141,000 rescue workers.
At least 19,000 bodies were found under the rubble in Turkey during the first five days of searches in what is already the deadliest earthquake to hit the country since 1939, when 33,000 people died.
Source: DN
