Turkey declares seven days of national mourning

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a seven-day period of national mourning, following the massive earthquakes that rocked Southeastern Turkey, reportedly killing more than 1,600 people so far.

“Due to the earthquakes that took place in our country on Feb. 6, 2023, a national mourning period was declared for seven days. Our flag will be hoisted at half-mast until sunset on Sunday, Feb.12, 2023, in all our country and foreign representations abroad,” Erdogan said via Twitter.

6 Şubat 2023 tarihinde ülkemizde meydana gelen depremler sebebiyle yedi gün süreyle millî yas ilan edilmiştir. Bütün yurtta ve dış temsilciliklerimizde 12 Şubat 2023 Pazar günü güneşin batışına kadar bayrağımız yarıya çekilecektir. pic.twitter.com/WsXvTpyr6y

— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) February 6, 2023

At least 1,651 people were killed and 11,119 injured in two major earthquakes that struck Southeastern Turkey on Monday.

Kahramanmaras province was the epicenter of both quakes, first with a magnitude of 7.7 on the Richter scale on 04:17 a.m. local time and the second with a magnitude of 7.6 on 01:24 p.m. local time.