Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday visited Kahramanmaras province, the region worst hit by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake two days ago.
The president vowed that Turkish authorities will continue to coordinate rescue and salvage operations, thanking the citizens for "showing patience in the face of a disaster" as they have always done in the past. "We can never allow our citizens to stay on the street," Erdogan stressed, saying that all resources have been mobilized to rebuild destroyed properties, which currently amount to 6,944, within a year.
As per the latest updates, the number of victims across Turkey and Syria surpassed 11,000, as the Turkish leader confirmed that the death toll in the country reached 8,574, while Syria reported 2,470 deaths so far.