More Than 16,000 Dead Across Turkey, Syria; Rescue Efforts Intensify
Thousands of foreign aid workers have arrived in Turkey to rescue people from the rubble and deliver urgent relief supplies to areas hit by two earthquakes this week.
The death toll in Turkey and neighboring Syria has surpassed 16,000 in a disaster US President Joe Biden said was one of the worst to hit the region in more than a century. The US has positioned an aircraft carrier closer to Turkey in case it needs additional assistance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has declared a three-month state of emergency in the affected areas, will visit the quake-hit provinces of Gaziantep, Osmaniye and Kilis on Thursday.
Important Developments
(All times Istanbul, GMT +3)
Turkish Presidency criticizes politicians who “sow division” (10.40 a.m.)
“This is no time for politics and we strongly condemn some statements by some political figures aimed at sowing divisions,” Turkish President Erdogan’s communications director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter.
Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said Erdogan was responsible for mistakes adding to the damage.
This is no time for politics and we condemn in the strongest terms some statements by some political figures aimed at sowing divisions. We are going through a difficult time as a nation. We call on everyone to avoid irresponsible statements and to be part of the solution.
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) February 9, 2023
More than 5,000 foreign personnel involved in the rescue (10:31 a.m.)
51 countries have sent rescue teams to Turkey, the government says. There are 5,125 expatriate personnel in the field. Other countries are expected to send teams.
BP says unclear when Azerbaijani oil exports will resume (10.20am)
Exports of Azerbaijani oil from Turkey’s Ceyhan port have still not resumed and it is unclear when they will, a spokesman for BP Plc said.
All the quays of the eastern Mediterranean port – which normally handles about 1 million barrels of crude a day – were closed Monday for security checks after two devastating earthquakes.
Flow through the pipelines leading to the terminal resumed late Tuesday.
Economists see hit to Turkey’s GDP, budgetary risk (09:49)
Early estimates of the economic damage point to rising inflationary and fiscal risks.
Nick Stadtmiller, head of product at Medley Global Advisors in New York, said the disaster “increased the risk of another market downturn” given pre-existing vulnerabilities in the currency and external account. Oxford Economics said short-term disruptions to activity in the 10 provinces alone will reduce GDP by 0.3% to 0.4%.
Piotr Matys, a senior analyst at In Touch Capital Markets, said the central bank could come under “even more pressure from the Erdogan government to cut interest rates to fund the recovery.”
Death toll exceeds 16,000 (8:53 a.m.)
The death toll in Turkey and Syria rose to 16,429, according to Turkish state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which deploys a network of activists on the ground.
Pentagon deploys aircraft carriers closer to Turkey (8:10 a.m.)
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the US is positioning its aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush closer to Turkey in case it needs additional quake assistance.
Biden: Earthquake hits region ‘over 100 years’ worst (7:54 a.m.)
US President Joe Biden said the earthquakes were the worst to hit the region “in over 100 years” while offering condolences to Turkey in a speech in Wisconsin on Wednesday. “As I told President Erdogan and called him immediately when the first quake struck, the US is offering full support,” Biden said, adding that the US was also supporting humanitarian partners in Syria.
Three dead in attempted jailbreak in Turkey’s Quake Zone (7:50 a.m.)
Three inmates were killed when security forces thwarted a group’s attempt to escape from a prison in Hatay province, Turkey’s Justice Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Nine occupants were injured, it said.
Businessman Says Disaster “10 Times Worse Than Seen” (7:30 a.m.)
Mustafa Buluntu, head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of quake-hit Kahramanmaras province, said the disaster was “ten times worse than seen on TV,” Ekonomi newspaper reported. “Half of our workforce has died,” Buluntu said, adding that many factories in the Turkish province were badly damaged.
Miracle Survivors (6:30am)
After 73 hours, a five-year-old girl and her parents were evacuated alive from the rubble of an apartment building collapsed by the earthquake in the southeastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, state-run Anadolu Agency said.
Turkey restores access to Twitter (6:11 a.m.)
Turkey has restored access to Twitter after the social media platform agreed to do more to counter disinformation in the wake of the disaster, Hurriyet newspaper said.
–With support from Selcan Hacaoglu, Beril Akman and Patrick Sykes.
Photo: Rescuers carry a man who was left in rubble for two days in Hatay, southeast Turkey, on February 8, 2023, two days after a powerful earthquake struck the region. Credit: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.