ISTANBUL (AFP) – The death toll from Turkey’s flash floods soared to at least 38 on Friday as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited one of the hardest-hit cities to lead a prayer for the victims and pledge government help.
The devastation across Turkey’s northern Black Sea regions came just as the disaster-hit country was gaining control over hundreds of wildfires that killed eight people and destroyed swathes of forest along its scenic southern coast.
In a provisional toll, the government’s disaster agency AFAD reported that 32 people had died in Kastamonu province, along the Black Sea, and that six others had lost their lives in the neighbouring area of Sinop.
But an undetermined number of people have also been reported missing.
A previous spate of flooding killed six people last month in the northeastern province of Rize.
Scientists believe such natural disasters are becoming more intense and frequent because of global warming caused by polluting emissions.
Turkey’s emergence as a frontline country in the battle against climate change also poses a challenge to Erdogan two years before the next scheduled general election.
The powerful Turkish leader was roundly condemned on social media for tossing out bags of tea to locals while visiting one of the fire-ravaged areas at the end of July.
Polls indicate tackling climate change will be a top priority for up to seven million teens who will be eligible to vote for the first time when Erdogan seeks to extend his rule into a third decade.
Erdogan sounded both mournful and hopeful as he attended a funeral for the first victims and led a prayer before a few hundred residents in the inundated city of Kastamonu.
“We will do whatever we can as a state as quickly as we can, and rise from the ashes,” Erdogan told the crowd.
“We can’t bring back the citizens we lost, but our state has the means and power to compensate those who lost loved ones.”
