Quakes in Turkey ‘were man-made’

ANKARA // The mayor of Ankara yesterday warned that outside forces could be using sophisticated technology to try to trigger a man-made earthquake in an effort to damage Turkey’s fragile economy. Melih Gokcek, who has been mayor of the Turkish capital since 1994, made the claims on Twitter where he regularly updates his more than 3.7 million followers, often writing in capital letters. His comments were made after two quakes hit the western Canakkale province on Monday and yesterday, measuring 5.3 and 5.2 magnitude respectively, the Turkish disaster and emergency management authority said. In the tweets, Mr Gokcek shared a video that claimed there were tools for causing man- made quakes, and he called all submarines and ships with large equipment to be taken under control of the authorities. Mr Gokcek said he had researched the two quakes and suggested they could have been caused by possible foreign in- terference. “There was a ship conducting seismic research nearby,” he said.

“What this ship was researching and what country it belongs to must be solved.”

The ultimate aim, he suggested, was to trigger an earthquake near Istanbul in an attempt to wreak havoc on the economy. “At this moment, the coup aimed at Turkey is an earthquake near Istanbul to cause Turkey’s economic collapse,” he claimed.

It is not the first time that Mr Gokcek, one of the more colourful members of the ruling Justice and Development Party, has made such claims.

Following last July’s failed coup, he said that exiled imam Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blamed for the attempt, was hypnotising his followers using genies. The Canakkale region includes the Dardanelles Straits, which is the gateway to the Sea of Marmara that leads to the Bosphorus in Istanbul.

Istanbul is in a major earthquake-prone zone. In 1999, a quake north west of the city killed 17,000 people.

It is not the first time a senior Turkish figure has blamed foreign elements for conspiring to harm the country’s economy.

Last month, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed a conspiracy for the recent plunge in value of the lira, without saying who was to blame but saying such actions were akin to that of a terrorist.

“The purpose is to bring Turkey to its knees. They’re using the exchange rate as a weapon,” he said.

‘ What this ship was researching and what country it belongs to must be solved Melih Gokcek mayor of Ankara