Chaotic conditions prevail in the earthquake area. Turkey is still taking action against criminals there. The main targets are looters and contractors. President Erdogan announces tough action.

After the devastating earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area, the Turkish authorities arrested at least 48 people on alleged looting. In Hatay province alone, 42 suspects were arrested, with large sums of money, jewellery, bank cards, computers, mobile phones and weapons found among them, the official Turkish news agency Anadolu reported, citing security officials.

According to a decree published in the Official Journal, prosecutors in the ten quake provinces can detain suspected looters for seven days under the state of emergency declared by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It’s been four days so far.

Erdogan had previously announced tough action against looters. “Everyone who is involved in looting or kidnapping should be aware from now on that the state has them firmly in its sights,” said Erdogan during his visit to Diyarbakir province, expressly referring to the emergency regulations.

Dozens of arrest warrants were also issued for possible construction defects on buildings that collapsed during the earthquakes. Arrest warrants had been issued for 33 people in the city of Diyarbakir, the state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday, citing prosecutors. The accused are said to be responsible for construction defects that would have favored the collapse of the building. According to Anadolu, the public prosecutor’s office in Adana is also investigating possible construction defects in collapsed buildings.

As part of these investigations, 62 arrest warrants have been issued so far, it said. One of the suspects was reportedly arrested at Istanbul Airport. He is said to have tried to travel to Montenegro with cash and is now in custody, Anadolu said. Nine other people were arrested in the cities of Sanliurfa and Osmaniye.

Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay said prosecutors had set up departments to investigate earthquake-related crimes in 10 provinces affected by the earthquake, on instructions from the Justice Ministry.

Turkish City Minister Murat Kurum said that almost 172,000 buildings in ten provinces have now been inspected. It was found that around 25,000 had been badly damaged or had to be demolished urgently. More than 7,500 buildings have already collapsed in Turkey alone.