A viral claim suggesting that ten nations including the United States pulled out their ambassadors out of Turkey before the fatal earthquakes struck the region is found to be untrue. The multiple earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, has killed over 40,000 people with many still unaccounted for.
What is Being Claimed?
In a couple of tweets which have emerged on social media, it is being claimed that many countries including U.S, Canada, Britain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Holland, France, Denmark and Australia withdrew their ambassadors from Turkey 24-hours before the deadly earthquake struck the area.
The viral claim further fueled the speculation of the quake being man-made. "Riddle me this question. Why would 10 countries pull their ambassadors out of Turkey 24 hours before the earthquake? Because it was a manmade event and the 10 countries were warned. There is no other conclusion can up with," read a tweet.
"Senator Sosoaca states that the earthquake in Turkey was created using HAARP technology. She presents the evidence of suspicious behavior by some countries before the earthquake, like 9 ambassadors leaving the country the day before," wrote another.
Here is the Truth
Debunking the claims being made through the viral hoax, Lead Stories confirmed that it wasn't true and none of the countries withdrew their diplomats anticipating a quake.
In a communique to the outlet, multiple countries confirmed that their ambassadors were in Turkey at the time of the quake. Officials from the United States, Germany, Canada and the Netherlands all confirmed that their countries' ambassadors were in Turkey at the time of the quake, reported the outlet.
In an email to the outlet, a U.S. State Department spokesperson, said that U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeffry L. Flake "was in Türkiye when the earthquakes hit on Monday, February 6th and he remained in country to lead the U.S. Mission and coordinate the U.S. response through the resulting humanitarian crisis."
A spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada, the government department that handles Canadian diplomatic affairs, also confirmed to the outlet their ambassador was in Ankara, Turkey, in the days leading up to and at the time of the February 6, 2023, quake. A spokesperson for the Dutch ambassador to Turkey, Joep Wijnands, confirmed that at the time of the first earthquake on February 6th Ambassador Wijnands was at home in Ankara. During the second earthquake, he was at work at the Embassy.
