Erdoğan condemns criticism, says Turkey death toll now 9,057
Speaking in Hatay province, close to the epicentre of the quakes, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the number of people confirmed dead in Turkey had increased to 9,057, Reuters reports.
Syrian officials and a rescue group in rebel-held north-west Syria have said the death toll there has reached 2,662, bringing the combined tally to 11,719.
The president also condemned criticism of the government’s rescue effort, condemned by many in the country as slow and inadequate.
“This is a time for unity, solidarity. In a period like this, I cannot stomach people conducting negative campaigns for political interest,” Erdoğan said, adding that it was not possible to be prepared for such a disaster.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said the loss of life in the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has been “truly staggering, shocking”.
The US has deployed more than 150 search and rescue personnel to Turkey, he said.
Blinken added Washington will have more to say in days ahead about how the US will continue to support the Turkish and Syrian people.
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) will launch an appeal on Thursday to raise urgent funds to help people affected by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria which have killed more than 12,000 people.
The DEC brings together 15 leading aid charities at times of crisis overseas. Fourteen of these are responding in Turkey and Syria including British Red Cross, ActionAid and Save the Children.
Salah Aboulegasem, an aid worker for Islamic Relief in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, said colleagues have told him there is a shortage of body bags in Syria.
He told Sky News: “The difference between Turkey and Syria is that in Turkey there’s a co-ordinated effort to have the search and rescue – whereas in Syria, this doesn’t exist.”
The aid worker added that the situation in Syria was already tough.
“It’s been 13 years of war, there are already a million refugees on that border. These are the coldest months – all of this has made the situation more challenging than it is.
“This is not something that will end tomorrow, this is something that will go on for a long time.”