Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared ten provinces of the country affected by the earthquake a disaster area and imposed a state of emergency there.
"We are declaring the provinces affected by the earthquake a disaster area. A decision has been made to impose a state of emergency on these ten provinces for three months", Erdogan said in a telecast statement on Tuesday.
The Turkish leader pointed out that "these measures are forced ones and a consequence of the earthquake."
The state of emergency, he said, "guarantees quick and efficient search and rescue operations."
Erdogan stressed that his constitutional powers were wide enough for the introduction of the state of emergency in the affected regions.
