Turkey mourns its tens of thousands dead, surrounded by the ruins of last year’s earthquake

By MUCAHIT CEYLAN and ANDREW WILKS
Associated Press

ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) — Millions of people across Turkey are mourning the loss of more than 53,000 friends, loved ones and neighbors in last year’s catastrophic earthquake. To mark what it calls the “Disaster of the Century,” the government has arranged a series of events to commemorate Tuesday’s one-year anniversary of the disaster. In Antakya, the capital of the southern province of Hatay, angry crowds jostled with police as officials were led to the commemorations. Mayor Lutfu Savas was greeted with chants calling for him to resign, while Health Minister Fahrettin Koca was jeered and booed as he gave a speech. A moment of silence at 4:17 a.m. marked the time the quake struck.