Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: President Erdoğan admits problems in responding to disaster

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Debris in Hatay, Turkey: Ruler Erdoğan is on his way to the disaster area

Photo: Ibrahim Oner / dpa

Two days after Monday's devastating earthquake, which currently claimed more than 10,000 victims, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the disaster area.

The presidential office said on Wednesday that he was in Kahramanmaras province and on his way to a tent city set up for the earthquake victims.

Erdoğan also wanted to visit Hatay province.

Both areas have been badly hit by the tremors and have claimed thousands of lives.

According to the Reuters news agency, Erdoğan admitted that there were "problems in responding to the earthquake" on the first day.

Now the salvage operations were running normally.

Turkey "will not allow citizens to become homeless, the state housing authority will do what is necessary," said Erdoğan.

He also called for unity and not to listen to "provocateurs" but only to government reports.

Erdoğan spoke of 8,574 dead in Turkish territory on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, those affected are complaining about the lack of or only sluggish help in rescuing the buried people.

The Turkish opposition leader personally accused President Erdoğan of failure.

"If anyone is primarily responsible for this course of events, it's Erdoğan," said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the largest opposition party, the CHP.

Erdoğan failed to prepare the country for such an earthquake during his 20-year reign.

Politically, the earthquake could be dangerous for Erdoğan: Presidential elections are due in Turkey in mid-May.

The question of the whereabouts of the Erdoğan government's earthquake tax, which is officially called the "private transport tax" (Turkish: Özel İletişim Vergisi), also came into focus.

Since the devastating earthquake of 1999, Turkey had taken in 88 billion Turkish Lira (TL), which is 4.67 billion US dollars at today's exchange rate.

In addition, a video of Erdoğan's finance minister, recorded in 2011, emerged in which he explained that the revenue from the tax had been spent on roads, railways and agriculture, for example.

The money was also used to repay debts to the International Monetary Fund.

In many places, among other things, botched construction is discussed as a reason for the many collapsed houses.

The shares of cement companies in particular rose on the Turkish stock exchange, thousands of houses have to be replaced.

fin/Reuters