Turkish press review

ANKARA (A.A) - October 28, 2011 - Turkish dailies mostly covered in their Friday's edition developments after the massive earthquake that hit the eastern province of Van and illegal housing. All the papers published stories about the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Van on Sunday. Hurriyet daily headlined "Why 63 teachers killed in the quake?" It said "asked why a large number of teachers were killed in the quake, National Education Minister Omer Dincer said that 63 teachers died in the quake, because a cafe where most of teachers were in was destroyed by the quake. The daily quoted Dincer as saying that only one of 446 schools collapsed in the earthquake and it was a pleasing development. Vatan newspaper said that Turkey undersigned a great organization after the earthquake in Van, stating that 4,226-member rescue team arrived in the quake zone immediately after the quake. The daily wrote that rescue team pulled 186 people alive from the rubble. Vatan also said death toll was 550 in the quake. Sabah daily said that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah would extend a 50 million USD aid for the people who were affected by the earthquake. Zaman newspaper said that a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Van showed once again that there were shortcomings in inspections on building standards in Turkey. Turkiye newspaper headlined "Historical transformation begins" and said that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that they started a war against illegal housing. The daily quoted Erdogan as saying that they would construct buildings under supervision of the Housing Administration of Turkey (TOKI).