President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan highlighted the recovery process in provinces hit by the Feb. 6 earthquakes in Türkiye’s southeast while addressing the parliamentary group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Wednesday.
Erdoğan was also critical of the opposition, particularly Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for a “politically shameful” election campaign in the earthquake zone and “lying” about the government’s earthquake response.
Erdoğan said although the earthquakes came at a time of harsh winter, authorities managed to respond in time and ministers were on the ground within hours to coordinate search and rescue operations. He said over 35,000 search and rescue crewmembers responded to the earthquakes while almost half a million people, from volunteers and public officials, rushed to the aid of earthquake survivors. “We mobilized all resources but the devastation was enormous and it was impossible to simultaneously reach out to everyone in affected areas even if we would be able to dispatch at least one search and rescue worker for every building."
"Still, Türkiye managed to assemble the largest search and rescue team after this disaster,” he said, adding that survivors and families of those killed in the earthquakes were “absolutely right” in their “reproach (over earthquake response). “We share everyone's pain and we will keep our arms and hearts open for them,” he added. Erdoğan has acknowledged several shortcomings in disaster response in his earlier visits to the disaster zone though he pledged to heal the wounds in the region.
The president said the nation appreciated their efforts and earthquake survivors joined them in building a new future. “We are speechless in the face of resolve, common sense and confidence in us. By God’s will, we will act accordingly. As long as we stand united, we can overcome the devastation the earthquake has inflicted,” he asserted. The president also praised national solidarity, referring to donations and other efforts by people across Türkiye for earthquake survivors.
Touching on the rebuilding process, Erdoğan said the corporate experience of the country’s main housing development authority and the capacity of Türkiye’s construction sector was sufficient to complete the construction of new homes for thousands of earthquake victims within one year. The president noted that they were already providing aid for accommodation to about 1.4 million people before their relocation to their new houses.
Erdoğan, who will run against CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu in the May 14 elections, denounced Kılıçdaroğlu’s launch of his election campaign in the disaster zone. “We can remain silent in the face of this person’s shameless election campaign among the rubble but should we remain silent in the face of his defamation of our ministers, governors and public officials who have been working day and night since the first hours of the earthquake,” Erdoğan lashed out.
The opposition has been critical of what they called the government’s slow and insufficient response to the disaster. Erdoğan said Kılıçdaroğlu’s speech in the earthquake zone “riddled with lies and errors” “would certainly not raise the spirits of our brothers and sisters who lost their loved ones and homes.” The president said they worked for the recovery of cities while the opposition sought to “exploit” the disaster.
On presidential elections, Erdoğan criticized the opposition bloc’s plan to install aides. The “table for six” alliance has faced a split over the Good Party’s (IP) reaction to the bloc over the latter’s opposition to their proposed candidates, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu or Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş. The bloc, which nominated Kılıçdaroğlu, later reconciled when Yavaş and Imamoğlu were accepted as future vice presidents under Kılıçdaroğlu.
“They say they may assign as many vice presidents as they want. I remind the nation that they once criticized us for appointing only one vice president and said the country cannot be governed with only one vice president. But I understand the importance of assigning as many vice presidents as they want. They have to give away some post to everyone they assembled for the table for six,” he said.
