Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Looters raid city’s shops, homes after Turkiye quake

Looters raid city’s shops, homes after Turkiye quake

His bloodied face is instantly visible as he runs down the alley of the old bazaar in the historic city of Antakya, pursued by a shopkeeper with an iron bar, accusing him of looting in the wake of Turkiye’s huge earthquake.
Monday’s 7.8-magnitude tremor hit Turkiye and Syria, killing nearly 26,000 people and destroying thousands of homes and businesses.

Looters have exploited the tragedy in Turkiye, smashing windows with hammers, and taking whatever they can find, including expensive mobile phones.

The situation is tense in Hatay, a southern Turkish province where police have arrested 42 people on suspicion of looting.

When police detained the suspects, they were carrying money, smartphones, computers, arms, jewelry and bank cards.

Shopkeepers, like the one in the bazaar, are on guard alongside security forces, ready to hunt down anyone giving rise to suspicion.

The ancient city is quiet and streets that were unaffected by the quake are deserted.

Exploiting this eerie silence are looters, going on a spree inside shops that have remained intact.

While some people, desperate for food and baby products, broke into supermarkets after aid did not arrive immediately, looters now rummage through electronics and clothing stores.

Four ATMs were ripped open from the front and emptied.

At a smartphone store, only the signs of the big labels remain. Everything else has been taken, apart from a few bits and pieces of packaging.

Next door, the mannequins in the window have been stripped naked and knocked over while the racks and shelves have been emptied.

Videos have appeared on social media, purportedly showing looters beaten up.

Hatay resident Aylin Kabasakal could not hide her frustration at the situation.

“We’re guarding our homes, our cars. The looters are looting our homes. There’s nothing left to say, unfortunately. We’re destroyed, we’re shaken. What we have gone through is a nightmare,” she said.

“The authorities must protect our homes.”

In the province bordering Syria, which hosts more than 400,000 Syrian refugees, suspicion spreads like wildfire about “foreign” looters.

But shopkeeper Nizamettin Bilmez, who sells white goods, admitted Turks “can also do this.”

His vacuum cleaners are less attractive than the phones sold next door, especially since the collapse of the flats above him partially blocked entrance to his shop.

For Bilmez, it is understandable why people broke into supermarkets to find food.

“It’s normal for baby wipes, food, drink,” he said, since aid did not arrive for the first couple of days.

But the government is cracking down on looters.

In a decree on Saturday, suspects accused of looting can now be held for seven days instead of four under the state of emergency that came into force this week for three months.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday also said the state of emergency meant that “from now on, people involved in looting or kidnapping should know that the state’s firm hand is on their backs.”

In the meantime, some like the bazaar traders take justice into their own hands.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×