The Presidency’s Directorate of Communications has shut down a series of claims of mistreatment and allegations about the ongoing search and rescue efforts across Türkiye’s southeastern region following the twin earthquakes that caused widespread loss of life and massive infrastructural damage.
Men sit and talk in front of destroyed properties in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Antakya,
Hatay province, Türkiye, Feb. 20, 2023. (Reuters Photo)
A daily bulletin issued on Monday counters hundreds of allegations that surfaced between Feb. 6 and Feb. 19 since the earthquakes that devastated 11 Turkish provinces.
‘No rescuers in sight’
“There are no search and rescue efforts in the quake-stricken area” has been a prominent claim, especially on social media platforms so far.
Dismissing the claim as patently false, the directorate assured operations were “still underway” in Kahramanmaraş, as well as the other 10 provinces.
Citing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Feb. 6 statement, hours after the disaster struck, the directorate informed that 9,000 personnel were conducting search and rescue operations, with the number “steadily increasing.”
According to the most recent statement from the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), approximately 15,000 search and rescue personnel, as well as around 5,000 vehicles and construction equipment, have been deployed to the earthquake-affected area, with 10,409 volunteers providing assistance, the bulletin read.
“People trapped under collapsed buildings in quake-hit provinces continue to be pulled from the rubble,” the directorate said.
‘Mistreated Hungarians’
In addition to the claims regarding foreign rescue teams, such as Israeli rescuers being kept waiting before being allowed into the disaster zone, the directorate also dismissed the claims raised on a television channel and social media about the mistreatment of the Hungarian rescue team.
“Hungarian Ambassador Viktor Matis stated on his social media account that when the bus carrying the Hungarian rescue team ran out of petrol, a local citizen paid for the petrol and that the shopkeeper gave half of the pastries they had as a gift,” the bulletin informed.
‘Spanish departure’
The directorate also repelled the claim on certain media outlets regarding the Spanish rescue team’s departure from Türkiye claiming that “Bulldozers and heavy equipment are excavating debris. There are no rescue operations available. That’s why they left the country.”
Reiterating that operations continued in the region, the directorate explained that the interview concerning the allegations was published on the seventh day of the disaster and “the rescue of persons under the rubble through the search and rescue operations on the 10th day entirely refutes the allegations.”
“(Some) 788 Spanish search and rescue personnel was deployed throughout the region, and some ‘light search and rescue’ teams, who accomplished their missions, have returned to their country. 639 personnel from Spain are still on the ground,” the directorate said on the 10th day of the aftermath.
Over 249,000 search and rescue personnel were currently working in the field, AFAD confirmed on Monday.
‘Police violence’
The allegations of ill-treatment the directorate addressed aren’t limited to international rescuers, whose numbers reached 9,000 at one point.
“The claim that the police kicked a correspondent covering the rescue operations is false,” the bulletin further stated.
“Based on the information obtained from teams on the ground, such an incident has never occurred,” the directorate said, adding no report was found of such an incident relayed to the Turkish National Police units.
‘Spoliation of evidence’
In the wake of the earthquakes, the claim that there was “an attempt to destroy the documents at Hatay’s Department of Building Inspection” was posted on dozens of social media accounts and made headlines across various news publishers and broadcasters.
The truth is that the tremors “severely damaged and demolished a substantial portion” of the Hatay Provincial Directorate of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, according to the directorate.
“Persons who entered the additional service building adjacent to the directorate without permission were extricated due to the risk that the main building’s fire escape may collapse onto the additional building. Those who resisted claimed on social media that ‘there is an attempt to destroy the documents,’” the directorate said.
It noted that the ministry preserves its documents in printed form and instantly transfers all official correspondence to the digital environment via “Belgenet” and all documents in the additional building would be moved to the provincial directorate’s archives.
‘Proof in the wreckage’
“The removal of debris from collapsed and damaged buildings before the evidence is collected” was another allegation the directorate rebutted in its bulletin.
By the second week of the disaster, 478 public prosecutors with temporary authority have been deployed to the provinces and districts affected by the quake, the directorate informed, adding that relevant Chief Public Prosecutor’s Offices commenced investigations immediately to identify the individuals responsible for the collapsed buildings, the bulletin read.
Civil engineers, architects, geology engineers and approximately 600 experts have been deployed to the earthquake-hit area to collect core samples for expert examination and sampling. Under the supervision of the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, expert work and sampling procedures are carried out effectively and promptly, and debris is removed after the expert examination,” it said.
The death toll from the disaster in Türkiye climbed to over 41,000 people on Monday as Hatay was rocked by another pair of earthquakes two weeks after the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude tremors centered in Kahramanmaraş.
Monday’s tremors, too, claimed at least eight lives and refreshed the injured count of 108,000.
Neighboring Syria, took the second most significant damage after Türkiye, reporting over 5,800 casualties and at least 14,000 injuries since Feb. 6.
Türkiye has begun winding down rescue efforts in eight provinces while operations continue in Kahramanmaraş and Hatay.
