Monitoring Desk
ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday asked for forgiveness over delays in rescue activities while visiting one of the areas badly affected by the devastating earthquake earlier this month.
Erdogan, who is trying for another term as president after two decades in power, is facing strong criticism from earthquake survivors in the southeastern province of Adiyaman.
In the last election in 2018, Erdogan defeated his secular opposition rival in the area.
Erdogan said that due to the devastating effect of the quake and the bad weather, “we were unable to work the way we wanted in the province for the first few days. I apologize for this,”.
The February 6 tremor killed over 44,000 people in Turkey and thousands more in the neighboring country Syria.
President asks for forgiveness in a time of unsure popularity
The disaster struck just as the president was gaining momentum and starting to elevate his approval rates from a low suffered during a dire financial crisis that exploded last year.
