Turkish foreign minister visits quake-hit region

By Mustafa Deveci

HATAY, Türkiye (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday visited the Kirikhan and Iskenderun districts of the quake-hit Hatay province in southern Türkiye.

After his visit to a coordination center in the Kirikhan district, Cavusoglu met with miners who took part in rescue efforts, and locals affected by earthquakes.

He stressed that the government will bind up the wounds of the earthquake victims.

The Turkish foreign minister noted that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will again visit the earthquake-hit areas next week.

He then moved to Iskenderun and visited Türkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) center in the district.

Cavusoglu also visited a tent city set up for earthquake victims in the center of Iskenderun.

At least 40,689 people have been killed and over 108,000 injured in two powerful earthquakes that rocked southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, according to the latest official figures.

The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Elazig and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.

In Syria, at least 5,840 people have been killed.