Confusion over number of Turkish earthquake victims in north

Authorities in the north are sending mixed messages about the number of Turkish earthquake victims that have arrived in the area, reports said on Wednesday.

According to reports in Yeni Duzen, numbers have varied drastically from what officials have been reporting the in the past couple of days.

Most recently, ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said that the number of earthquake victims that arrived from Turkey was 1,500, while only three days ago ‘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.

Commenting on the confusion later in the day, main opposition CTP chairman Tufan Erhurman said that Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar claimed on a visit to Gaziantep that 5,000 had arrived.

Tatar said: “We host nearly five thousand earthquake victims in the TRNC. They are our guests, and that’s how it should be. As the Turkish people, we continue to provide assistance within our modest means. We work with extraordinary effort and sensitivity to support this process with different campaigns. We share this closeness and this pain.”

Making an ironic remark over the confusion in the numbers, Erhurman said: “Let’s keep our minds at ease! The country is very ‘well’ governed!”