Erdogan: "Operations could not be launched fast enough"

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted that the government have been unable to launch search and rescue operations in the earthquake zone swiftly enough.

Speaking in the devastated city of Adiyaman on Friday, Erdogan said:

"Although we have so far dispatched more than 141,000 people to the region, 30,000 search and rescue experts among them, and while this is perhaps the largest search and rescue team in world history, it is unfortunately still true that we could not launch the operations as swiftly as we wished."

Stating that they are planning to finish up building new residences within a year, Erdogan said that the government will financially support survivors who will prefer to rent an apartment instead of staying in tents.

He said:

"We will financially assist our citizens who will not, who will prefer not to stay in tents, and we will compensate the costs when they have rented places to stay. My citizens will be able to stay for a year in apartments, in Adiyaman if there are secure buildings left, or in other cities. In the meanwhile we will be finished building new residences here."