As desperation grows, survivors criticise Turkey's earthquake response
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Play - 04:05
Search and rescue operations continue across the south-east of Turkey, the region struck by a huge earthquake and large aftershocks earlier this week. With the area facing freezing conditions, frustrations are growing among survivors over claims the government is acting too slowly.
Desperation is growing in southern Turkey after it was struck by multiple quakes.
Deniz, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, is losing hope for family members buried in their collapsed home in the province of Hatay.
"They are talking, but nobody comes. We are finished. My God! They are speaking. There is nobody here. Nobody. What kind of state is this?" he said.
Turkish authorities say as many as 17,000 buildings were destroyed, and many people were still trapped in them.
Against the odds, rescue workers are meeting with some successes. In the city of Diyarbakir, rescue workers saved a 13-year-old buried in a collapsed apartment block for more than 36 hours.
But criticism is growing over the response to emergency efforts.
With temperatures falling below zero, hypothermia is a new danger facing the many people believed to be trapped in what is now becoming a race against time.
Freezing temperatures are also posing a threat to the tens of thousands of people made homeless by the quake. Many survivors spent days on the streets in icy conditions.
"Our houses have been damaged; we cannot go inside now. We haven't eaten anything since morning; our children are very hungry. May God protect all of us," said Orhan Sahin from the quake-hit city of Kahramanmaras.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is dismissing such criticism. During a visit to the stricken region, the president acknowledged the response may have been initially slow, but said that thousands of search and rescue personnel were now deployed across the region.
"This period is the period of unity... It is the time of solidarity," said Erdogan on Wednesday, addressing the media in Antakya province.
"In such a period, I do not digest viciously negative campaigns conducted in the name of mere political interests. If I were not responsible for my position, I would not be speaking like that today, I would be speaking quite differently," he added.
Erdogan earlier in the week said that prosecutors were monitoring social media for what he called "unscrupulous people" criticizing the government, and warned they would be held to account.
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'We need everything'
With ten Turkish cities with populations of around 13 million badly damaged by the quake, the scale of the rescue operation is immense.
But across the border in Syria, in the rebel-controlled enclave of Idlib, the deadly quakes have destroyed much of what little infrastructure remained from more than a decade of civil war.
As a result, aid agencies say there is a desperate need for international support.
"It's crazy. Buildings are on the ground. People are helpless. They don't know what to do. No aid yet. And this is very important," warned Yakzan Shishakly, co-founder of the Maram Foundation, an aid agency working in Syria.
"No aid has yet come to Idlib, and people don't know if they will receive aid or no aid. They're really devastated. We need everything, but medical supplies are so important, blankets, food, and that is what we really need right now," added Shishakly.
While border crossings with Turkey are open, many of the roads to those borders have been severely damaged by the devastating quakes. However, on Thursday, the first aid convoys managed to enter Syria from Turkey.
On both sides of the border, rescue workers are now racing against time, with the threat of disease, cold and hunger hanging over the shattered area.
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