Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the government would take action against people involved in robberies and other crimes in regions hit by Monday’s devastating earthquakes in the south of the country, amid an increasingly acute security problem in those regions. oblast, Reuters and Agerpres report.

Recep Tayyip ErdoganPhoto: Mehmet Akif Parlak / AFP / Profimedia

“We have declared a state of emergency,” Erdogan said during a visit to the affected area. “This means that from now on people who are involved in robberies or kidnappings should know that the firm hand of the state is behind them,” he added.

On Friday, the president of Turkey said that there had been robberies in some areas. However, according to Reuters, it is unclear which cases of kidnapping Erdogan was referring to.

Security in the area hit by two devastating earthquakes on Monday came to the fore after the Austrian military suspended rescue operations there due to what a spokesman called an “increasingly difficult security situation”.

Soon after, Germany also announced that it was suspending rescue operations in the Turkish province of Hatay, also for security reasons.

Erdogan also said that in southern Turkey, hundreds of thousands of buildings have become uninhabitable and that the authorities will soon begin the reconstruction process.

“We intend to rebuild hundreds of thousands of buildings. In a few weeks, we will take concrete measures,” he added, noting that the death toll in Turkey has reached 21,848.

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