TURKIYE- Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on yesterday's earthquake. A summary of his column as follows:
In the midst of this harsh winter, a harsh earthquake has once again struck our country. The epicenter of the quake was the town of Sultandagi in the Afyon province and it had a magnitute of 6.0 on Richter scale. Our citizens, many sleeping or having just woken up or eating their breakfast on a weekend morning at 9 a.m., were faced with a disaster. When I wrote these lines, the quake's death toll stood at 37, but it will unfortunately rise. Many buildings have collapsed and a number of animals and livestock also died. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit arrived in the region almost at once and Kizilay (theTurkish Red Crescent) hurried aid to the region. But can you imagine how the survivors suffered last night? The thoughts of our friends, fearfully rushing out of their homes yesterday morning caused great pain in our hearts. In recent years, earthquakes have frequently been in Turkey's headlines. Our land has suffered greatly from quakes from the very beginning of recorded history. Our government has willingly or not gained experience in dealing with disasters, and it will do whatever it can. Everything will be done to heal the wounds, and our economic crisis will not cause any negligence or lack of efficiency in doing so. Meanwhile, I want to express my deep sorrow and convey my condolences to the victims of the quake.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION