State of emergency to prevent maltreatment in the earthquake-hit region: Erdoğan

GAZİANTEP/ANKARA

The government will take all the necessary measures to stop malign efforts of some people who are trying to take advantage for themselves in the earthquake-hit region, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, stressing that the state of emergency the Turkish Parliament declared will be very useful to this end.

Erdoğan visited Gaziantep, a southeastern Anatolian town, hit by the massive earthquakes, on Feb. 9 and inspected the efforts of the search and rescue teams who are trying to save lives under the piles of rubble.

“[The] objective of the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry is to construct three or four-storey buildings in one year,” Erdoğan said, repeating that the government will allocate 10,000 Turkish Liras to the people who suffered from the earthquake. This amount of money is just for tackling the immediate difficulties and more assistance will be made to the sufferers, Erdoğan said.

President Erdoğan informed that the government is working on a plan to build residential areas made of containers as well as provide caravans to the people whose houses collapsed in the earthquake.

“However, there are those who are trying to abuse this process for politics. My people will never tolerate this. In addition, our parliament will declare the three-month long state of emergency today. I took a step and issued a decree on the Official Gazette,” he said.

With the authority granted by the state of emergency, those who want to abuse the process will be prevented by the officials, and the looters will be stopped, Erdoğan stressed.

The Turkish Parliament started deliberations on the state of emergency on Feb. 9. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) announced their support of the declaration of the state of emergency.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) announced that they will not endorse the move.

The votes of the AKP and the MHP suffice to legislate the state of emergency. It will be valid for three months and only in 10 provinces severely hit by the earthquakes on Feb. 6.