ANKARA, July 23 (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Friday defended a much-criticized express train service and rejected appeals for the sacking of top officials after 36 people perished in one of the country`s worst railway disasters.
"More than 10 accidents have occurred on the same route since the 1950s but never was a government asked to take such actions," an angry Erdogan responded when asked whether he would sack his transport minister, Anatolia news agency reported.
A new express train linking Istanbul to Ankara derailed Thursday evening in the country`s northwest, killing 36 and leaving 81 injured.
The service was inaugurated in early June -- amid much fanfare by Erdogan himself -- despite warnings by engineers that the country`s decrepit tracks would not withstand high-speed cars.
"If it was inappropriate, accidents should have occurred every day since then, but this did not happen," Erdogan said.
He added, however, that a technical team would investigate the cause of the crash and the government would then decide what measures to take over the incident.
The express trains travel at speeds of up to 150 kilometres (90 miles) per hour, reducing the duration of the 567-kilometre (352-mile) trip from Istanbul to Ankara from eight to five hours.