Turkey earthquake: Erdogan declares 3-month state of emergency as rescue efforts continue

Описание: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared on Tuesday a three-month state of emergency covering the country’s 10 southern provinces hit by devastating earthquakes, and called it a disaster zone in a move meant to bolster rescue efforts.

The move came as the death toll from Monday's two major earthquakes, which hit a wide area of Turkey and Syria, exceeded 5,000 and as rescuers raced against time to dig people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings. Declaring a state of emergency permits the president and cabinet to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms as they deem necessary.

"We have decided to declare a state of emergency to ensure that operations are carried out rapidly," Erdoğan said in his second speech since the first quake hit. Erdoğan also said that 70 countries had offered help in search and rescue operations, and that Turkey planned to open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya, to the west, to temporarily house people impacted by the quakes during winter.

Earthquake victims from the city of Malatya, which is covered in snow, recounted their frustrations after expressing that they felt abandoned by the authorities. Ahmet Alinak said, "There is no one here, we are all doomed. This is the order we have here, as we live in Turkey. This is not what we expected from the state."

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