Turkey

16 Feb 2023; MEMO: A young woman was pulled from the debris of a collapsed building 248 hours after an earthquake hit southern Turkiye, as hopes of finding more survivors fade, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Rescuers found Aleyna Olmez, 17, alive under the rubble in Dulkadiroglu district of Kahramanmaras province.

She was taken to a hospital for medical treatment.

16 Feb 2023; MEMO: Catastrophe modelling firm, Karen Clark & Company (KCC), said on Thursday it expects insured losses of $2.4 billion from the devastating dual Kahramanmaras earthquakes that hit Turkiye earlier this month.

The number of people killed by the deadliest earthquake in Turkiye's modern history has risen to 36,187, authorities said, Reuters reports.

ANKARA (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday urged Turkey to ratify the applications of Finland and Sweden to join the military organization, repeating his claim that the Nordic neighbors have done enough to satisfy Ankara’s demands that they crack down on extremism.

At a news conference in Ankara standing alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Stoltenberg also condemned the burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, at a protest in Sweden but he said that this is not illegal in Europe.

ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) — Hamid Yakisikli has waited outside the pile of concrete that used to be his house since an earthquake devastated his home in the ancient city of Antakya. He and his two brothers have endured freezing conditions, in big jackets and wool hats, waiting for rescuers to retrieve the body of their mother, Fatma, from under the rubble.

Ever since the Feb. 6 earthquake decimated swaths of Turkey and Syria, survivors have gathered outside destroyed houses and apartments, refusing to leave.

14 Feb 2023; MEMO: Miracles continue as more survivors are pulled alive from the rubble nine days after strong earthquakes hit southern Turkiye, reports Anadolu Agency.

Two brothers, Baki Yeninar, 21, and Muhammed Enes Yeninar, 17, were rescued in the province of Kahramanmaras, where the quakes were centered, almost 200 hours later.

Baki said he held onto life by drinking protein powder.

15 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's Trade Ministry banned the export of mobile houses for three months to urgently meet the need for temporary shelter in the earthquake-hit southeast, local media reports.

According to a report, the ministry said the export ban on prefabricated and container homes will start on 15 February.

After the earthquake, 6,500 buildings collapsed and countless more were damaged, hundreds of thousands of people now lack safe housing.

13 Feb 2023; MEMO: The United Nations has said that the death toll from last week's earthquakes in northwest Syria and southern Turkiye is likely to be over 56,000.

The most current death toll is over 36,000, with at least 4,614 people dead in regime-held and opposition-held parts of Syria and at least 31,643 dead in Turkey.

ANKARA, Feb 13 (NNN-AMNA) – Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, visited Türkiye yesterday, in a show of support as massive earthquakes hitting the country have left more than 24,000 killed.

“We will continue to do our best to overcome difficult times, both at bilateral and the level of the European Union,” Dendias said, in a joint press statement with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in the quake-hit southern province of Hatay.

ANKARA/DAMASCUS, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the twin earthquakes that rocked Türkiye and Syria on Feb. 6 has climbed to 29,605 and 1,414 respectively as of Sunday evening.

The number of wounded, meanwhile, rose to over 80,000 in Türkiye and 2,349 in Syria, according to official figures.

FAULTY CONSTRUCTION

Türkiye has issued arrest warrants for 134 suspects involved in the faulty construction of buildings that collapsed in the earthquakes, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday.

13 Feb 2023; MEMO: Türkiye's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines has resumed flights from Hatay Airport in the country’s earthquake-hit southern region.

"Our flights from Hatay Airport have resumed," Yahya Ustun, Turkish Airlines’ senior vice president for media relations, said on Twitter.

Flights made between Feb. 13-19 will require advance reservation to facilitate the evacuation process, Ustun added.

Passengers without reservations will also be accepted in the case of vacant seats, he noted.