ADDS VISIT BY GERMAN CHANCELLOR, FOREIGN MINISTER; REVISES DEATH TOLL, HEADLINE
By Burak Bir
BERLIN/LONDON (AA) - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the Turkish Embassy in Berlin on Friday to offer condolences for the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye.
Steinmeier was greeted by Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Basar Sen, who informed him about the latest developments and relief efforts in the region.
The German president expressed his deep sorrow for the devastation caused by the earthquakes, and reiterated Germany’s solidarity with Türkiye.
"The scale of the death and destruction has shaken us deeply," he wrote in the embassy's condolence book.
"Our thoughts are with the surviving relatives. Your pain is our pain. We mourn together with the Turkish people and everyone affected by the disaster."
Separately, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also visited the Turkish Embassy.
Both signed the condolence book and expressed their solidarity with the people of Türkiye.
More than 19,800 people have died and over 79,700 others are injured since Monday’s powerful earthquakes in southern Türkiye, according to the latest official figures.
The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in Türkiye's Kahramanmaras province, have impacted some 13 million people across 10 Turkish provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.
In neighboring Syria, the death toll has climbed above 3,300, with more than 5,200 people wounded.