Over 8,500 Turks fleeing earthquake reported in the north

A total of 8,686 earthquake victims from Turkey are currently in the north, according to figures published on Tuesday.

The PIO reported that the information was relayed by the head of the Turkish Cypriot civil servants union (KTAMS) Guven Bengihan.

According to Turkish Cypriot press outlets, 5,538 people arrived from Hatay, 1,045 from Antiyaman, 156 from Adana, 62 from Diyarbakir, 407 from Gaziantep, 1,117 from Kahramanmaras, five from Kilis, 216 from Malatia, 57 from Osmaniye and 63 from Sanliurfa.

These are 4,906 women and 3,780 men, and most of them, a total of 5,665, are aged 18 and overs.

Their establishment by ‘administrative region’ sees almost half, 3,968 people, in Nicosia, 1,355 in Famagusta, 2,209 in Kyrenia, 681 in Morphou, 256 in Trikomo and 197 in Lefka.

The press in the north also reportedly called on Turkish citizens who are not registered to vote to update their details and addresses at the Turkish ‘embassy’ in the north over the next two weeks if they wish to vote in the upcoming elections in Turkey.

Earlier this month there had seemed to be confusion with the numbers

‘Prime minister’ Unal Ustel said that the number of earthquake victims that had arrived from Turkey by the beginning of the month was 1,500, while ‘labour minister’ Hasan Tacoy said the number was 3,800.

Stirring the pot more, Kyrenia ‘mayor’ Murat Senkul reported that from their municipality alone over 1,800 people are receiving aid.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar claimed on a visit to Gaziantep that 5,000 had arrived.