Answering the questions of Kathimerini, one of the leading Greek newspapers, about the earthquakes affecting 11 provinces in Türkiye and described as the "disaster of the century," Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said, "Currently, our government has no priority but to meet the needs of our citizens and to reconstruct our cities affected by the earthquake."
Emphasising that the two biggest earthquakes in Türkiye since 1939 occurred around 9 hours apart and that two very large earthquakes hit the country, Director of Communications Altun said, "Both of these earthquakes were stronger than the one that struck the Marmara region in 1999. Moreover, 11 of our provinces were affected by this situation independently. Our nation called these earthquakes the 'disaster of the century'."
Underlining that everyone from search-and-rescue personnel to security forces and healthcare professionals exerted extraordinary efforts during this process, Director of Communications Altun said:
"However, there are many people who want to disregard both the extent of the disaster as well as the efforts and sacrifices of those who saved lives on the field from the very beginning Our state is exerting all of its power to heal the earthquake survivors' wounds. Our citizens are generous with their financial and in-kind donations to organisations that carry out relief efforts, particularly AFAD. In fact, during this difficult period, we have clearly demonstrated Türkiye’s unity and integrity with its state and nation. Currently, our government has no priority but meeting the needs of our citizens and reconstructing our cities affected by the earthquake."
"Our priority is to heal the wounds as soon as possible"
When asked whether the issue of postponing the elections in Türkiye is on the agenda, Director of Communications Altun said, "This is not on our agenda. Our top priority right now is to heal wounds as soon as possible. The earthquake has caused loss of life and injury. Our primary concern is to extend the compassionate hand of the state to the injured, those who have lost loved ones, and all our citizens who have been affected by the earthquake. Obviously, our hearts are broken. Yet, we will overcome these challenging times through the unity of state and nation."
Upon being reminded of the discussion regarding Twitter not operating or operating slowly during the search and rescue operations, Director of Communications Altun underlined that in recent years, the fight against disinformation has become a top priority not only in Türkiye but also all over the world. In this regard, Director of Communications Altun noted that it was also discussed how global companies like Twitter must build relationships with the states and added that following the earthquake, they discovered that many fake alerts were posted on social media.
Director of Communications Altun said, "We are looking into whether this was done on purpose or whether there were internal and external forces attempting to sabotage the search and rescue efforts. Hence, an administrative decision was reached. Twitter also recognised our concerns and took proactive steps to address them. The restrictions were lifted a few hours later."
"We will provide our citizens with safe and high-quality housing"
When asked, "It is reported that reconstruction of buildings in earthquake-hit regions will begin in March. Is this a realistic promise?" Director of Communications Altun responded:
"This is unquestionably a realistic goal because the Republic of Türkiye is a powerful state. It has an impressive capacity. As a matter of fact, our country has built safe buildings and completed massive projects across the world. Most importantly, Türkiye has a strong leader as our President. Sadly, some people believe that criticising every action taken by the government represents politics or intellectuality. We can't spend our time responding to their criticisms. We will immediately begin to heal the wounds, just as we did not let our citizens suffer through previous disasters. We will provide our citizens with safe and high-quality housing."
"The Turkish nation has never abandoned the extended hand of friendship"
When asked if this would start a "new page" in relations between Türkiye and Greece, given that Greece sent a message of support and actively helped the search and rescue team from the beginning, Director of Communications Altun recalled that following the first significant earthquake, Türkiye immediately sought international assistance and as a result, search and rescue teams from dozens of countries arrived.
Director of Communications Altun noted that Greece is one of them and continued:
"Of course, we are grateful to Greece and all the countries that have supported us. Regarding our relationships with Greece, we seek to maintain good relations with all of our neighbours. It is common for states to disagree with one another occasionally. We must resolve these disagreements via meaningful and sincere dialogue centred on equity and in accordance with international law. The Turkish nation has never abandoned the extended hand of friendship."