UPDATE - National defense minister rejects claims that Turkish soldiers responded late to quake victims

UPDATES WITH MORE STATEMENTS BY NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER, MINOR EDITS

By Sarp Ozer

HATAY, Türkiye (AA) – The Turkish national defense minister on Monday denied the allegations that Turkish soldiers were late in responding to those trapped under the rubble after twin earthquakes jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6.

"These biased allegations that do not reflect the truth cannot be explained with good faith. The elements of the National Defense Ministry and the Turkish Armed Forces mobilized from the very first moment with their soldiers, civilians, workers and technical personnel, and rushed to the side of those who needed help," Hulusi Akar told a video conference meeting in southern Hatay province.

"The first earthquake, the epicenter of which was in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province, took place at 4.17 a.m. (0117 GMT). The operational centers of the General Staff, Land, Naval and Air Forces, as well as the National Defense Ministry, did what needed to be done quickly and requested reports from the troops at 4.30 a.m. (0130GMT). At the same time, the Turkish Armed Forces Humanitarian Aid Brigade Command has been ordered to 'get ready'," Akar said.

"At 5 a.m., a Disaster Emergency Crisis Center was established as part of the National Defense Ministry. Simultaneously, the crisis centers started their work at the General Staff and Service Commands," Akar noted.

Akar said he received information from Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler and force commanders as of 5 a.m., and he called President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone at 5.10 a.m. to present the first reports on the activities of the Turkish Armed Forces in the earthquake zone.

The defense minister said the 2nd Army Command units located in the disaster area started search and rescue operations in Kahramanmaras and Malatya provinces, as well as Hatay’s Iskenderun district at 6 a.m. in coordination with the governorates and Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency.

Akar added that at 10.45 a.m., he, along with Guler and the Land Forces Commander Musa Avsever, departed from Ankara to the earthquake zone.

More than 41,000 people have been killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, according to the country’s disaster management agency.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, 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.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz