Turkish Minister of Education Mahmud Ozer announced that school hours across the country were halted until February 13 due to the earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey.
Ozer explained: “Starting today, we are suspending official working hours for one week in all our schools in Turkey, until February 13.”
He added: “All our schools in all of our ten states affected by the earthquake will remain open to serve our citizens.”
Furthermore, the minister highlighted that all kinds of services related to housing and food will be provided to the citizens across schools and teachers’ homes around the clock, seven days a week without interruption.
In like manner, Syria’s Ministry of Education said that all kindergarten, public, private, Sharia, and vocational schools will be suspended for the rest of the week.
According to a statement to SANA, authorities decided to close schools through the end of this week after examining the condition of schools and the impact of the earthquake on citizens.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan affirmed that Monday’s earthquake was the biggest disaster they had experienced in the last century.
During his speech, Erdoğan highlighted that search and rescue teams had been dispatched to the affected areas.
“We do not know how high the number of dead and injured will go. Our hope is to get through this disaster with the least loss,” he said.
“This is the biggest disaster we’ve experienced in the last century after the 1939 Erzincan earthquake,” he added, citing an incident in which more than 32,000 people were killed in eastern Turkey.
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