Even this weekend, the rescue efforts in Turkey and Syria did not stop, in a race against time to find survivors.
Sometimes this race is also successful: in the last two days, for example, a family of five and a child who had been under the rubble for more than 120 hours were rescued, but compared to these few, the death toll continues to rise.
As of this hour, there are 21,848 dead in Turkey and 3,553 in Syria as a whole.
The UN Commissioner for Emergency Situations, Martin Griffiths, said that the death toll could double and even more. Griffiths, who visited the Kahramanmaras district in southeastern Turkey, said that it was "the heaviest disaster in this region in 100 years."
A teddy bear on a grave in Albistan.
Tens of thousands of graves were dug within a week, photo: AP
In Syria and Turkey, about 870,000 people urgently need assistance with food supplies.
In Syria alone, 5.3 million people lost their homes.
The problem in the areas held by the rebels is particularly difficult because of the civil war.
The United Nations said at the end of the week that "it is time to put politics aside" and allow aid to be delivered to the rebel areas as quickly as possible. At least as far as the tense relations between Turkey and Armenia are concerned, the parties have crossed paths: the border between the two countries was opened for the first time in 35 years to allow another channel for the flow of Aid to the disaster area.
Lucky: 7-year-old Hana Sharif was rescued from the rubble in Idlib, Syria, photo: AP
Over time also from the culture of illustrations to the strength of the earthquake that shook the land of Turkey.
In the documentation that was spread on social networks over the weekend, an olive grove in the Hatay region was seen, which simply split in the center.
According to reports, the fissure is 200 meters wide and 30 meters deep.
Meanwhile, shock and grief in Turkey are being joined by more and more anger towards the authorities.
The reason: despite clear construction regulations, which came into force after the noise in Izmit in 1999, many of the buildings built since then have collapsed, even though on paper they were supposed to withstand the intensity of the fluctuations.
Criticism also has a political dimension: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in the early 2000s partly following criticism of the failures of the government that preceded him in the field of construction.
Erdogan talks to a woman in Diyarbakır.
Realized that he was in trouble, photo: AFP
Erdogan realized he was in trouble, certainly when the presidential elections were held on May 14, and shortly after the earthquake he called on everyone to unite and not do politics.
"All our 85 million should be together, like one heart," he said.
The joint candidate of the opposition parties, Kemal Kilichdroglou, refused to line up.
"I saw the state of our nation in the arena," he said, "I refuse to observe what happened outside of politics and align myself with the country's leadership. In no way will I talk to Erdogan, his palace and the coupon-cutting gangs associated with him."
Over the weekend, 12 people, including contractors, were arrested in Turkey on suspicions related to construction safety violations.
Arrest warrants were issued for 29 other suspects.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
