After Acknowledging 'Problems' In Initial Response, Erdogan Vows To Rebuild Turkey After Quake

Erdogan's statement came a week after after he acknowledged problems in initial response to the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that ripped through Turkey and Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to press on with rescue and recovery efforts

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday vowed to press on with rescue and recovery efforts more than a week after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 ripped through the country and neighbouring Syria. 

"We will continue our work until we remove the last citizen left under the collapsed buildings," Erdogan said late on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting held at the headquarters of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), reported Reuters. 

The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria has crossed 41,000 but rescuers find a glimmer of hope as they said that they heard voices from under the rubble. 

Erdogan said that damage assessment of buildings, of which tens of thousands were destroyed, will be completed in a week and reconstruction will begin within months. "We will rebuild all the houses and workplaces, destroyed or made uninhabitable by the earthquake, and hand them over to the rightful owners," he added. 

More than 105,000 people were injured in the quake, he said, with more than 13,000 still being treated in hospital.

"We are facing one of the greatest natural disasters not only in our country but also in the history of humanity," Erdogan said.

More than 2.2 million people have left the worst-hit areas already, Erdogan said, and hundreds of thousands of buildings have become uninhabitable.

Erdogan's statement came a week after after he acknowledged problems in initial response to the quake. 

“Of course, there are shortcomings. The conditions are clear to see. It's not possible to be ready for a disaster like this”, he said, adding “We will not leave any of our citizens uncared for.” He also hit back at critics, saying “dishonorable people” were spreading “lies and slander” about the government’s actions.

The rescuers attempted to save three sisters from under the rubble in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras region while a 35-year-old woman was saved in the same region who was believed to have been stuck under the debris for around 205 hours, it added. 

Two brothers, 17-year-old Muhammad Enis Yeninar and 21-year-old brother Abdulbaki Yennir, were also rescued from the collapsed building in Kahramanmaras on Tuesday, according to TRT Haber.