As earthquake death toll rises to 23,500, President Erdogan admits: ‘Government response was not fast enough’ | Abroad

20,213 people have died in Turkey alone. The latest official death toll in Syria was 3,384. Erdogan described the earthquake as one of the biggest disasters in Turkey’s history. He said more than 76,000 people have been evacuated from the earthquake zone to other provinces.

The first quake on Monday morning hit the border area with a magnitude of 7.7. It was followed in the afternoon by another 7.6-magnitude quake in the region. There have been more than 1,000 aftershocks since then, according to Turkey’s Afad disaster relief agency.

Critics believe that not enough rescuers were deployed in the first days after the quakes and that not enough humanitarian aid was delivered. The president reiterated in Adiyaman that there are “shortcomings” in his government’s response, but now went further by saying the government was not acting quickly enough.

Erdogan promised during the visit, which included meetings with survivors, that the government will pay rent for a year for displaced people who do not want to stay in tents. In addition, affected families can count on government assistance for their relocations, said the president.

He also spoke of raids on markets and attacks on businesses. He added that the state of emergency declared for three months will help the state to impose the necessary punishments on the perpetrators.

Turkey is now receiving support from more than 7,000 foreign aid workers in the search for survivors. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara announced on Twitter on Friday that aid workers from 61 countries were in the country. In total, Turkey received aid in the form of relief supplies from 97 different countries.