Fact check: False claim that numerous ambassadors fled Turkey ahead of earthquake

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·4 min read
1

The claim: Ambassadors pulled from Turkey 24 hours before earthquake

A March 3 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a list of countries with ambassadors in Turkey.

"List of countries that pulled their ambassadors out of Turkey 24 hours before the earthquake," reads the post. "Canada, USA, Britain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Holland, France. Nothing suspicious here."

The post, originally shared on Twitter, garnered more than 100 likes in four days. Similar posts have been shared on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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Our rating: Partly False

Spokespeople for six out of eight embassies confirmed their ambassadors were in Turkey at the time of the earthquake. Photographic evidence places many of the ambassadors in the area at the time.

Embassies say claims are false

This claim builds on the baseless conspiracy theory that the deadly Turkey earthquake was somehow planned or created. But the claim here has no basis in reality.

Spokespeople for most of the ambassadors in question said they were in Turkey during the Feb. 6 earthquake, which killed more than 50,000 people.

A spokesperson for the Federal Foreign Office of Germany; Marilyne Guèvremont, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada; Dario Sabbioni, a spokesperson for the Italian Embassy in Ankara; and Wouter Poels, a spokesperson for the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told USA TODAY over email that the ambassadors were in Turkey at the time of the earthquake.

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"Both the Belgian ambassador to Turkey and the Belgian consul general in Istanbul were on Turkish territory that day," said Poels. "All Belgian diplomatic and consular staff in Turkey were fully operational by 5 am on Feb. 6 to deal with the consequences of the earthquake."

Representatives for the French and Dutch embassies told AFP their ambassadors were in the country when the earthquake struck as well.

The U.S. Embassy didn't respond to USA TODAY's request for comment and the U.K. Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the record.

But U.S. ambassador Jeffry Flake shared a picture on Instagram of a flag at half-staff tagged in Ankara on Feb. 6, and he spoke on CNN from the city early the next morning.

Workers carry a victim of the earthquake to the morgue at Sehir cemetery in Malatya, Turkey, on Feb. 12, 2023. A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook southern Turkey on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, three weeks after a catastrophic temblor devastated the region, causing some already damaged buildings to collapse and killing at least one person, the country's disaster management agency, AFAD, said.

Ambassadors photographed in Turkey around time of earthquake

In addition to the public statements, an array of photographic evidence shows ambassadors in Turkey around the time of the earthquake.

Herve Magro, the French ambassador to Turkey, visited a Turkish tennis club on Feb. 3, according to a tweet shared by the club. The same day, Magro tweeted a picture of Kuğulu Park, located in the Turkish city of Ankara.

Dutch ambassador Joep Wijnands was photographed meeting with Turkish politician Ahmet Davutoğlu on Feb. 3, while Belgian ambassador Paul Huynen spoke at a Feb. 3 seminar in Ankara. U.K. ambassador Jill Morris was pictured meeting officials in Istanbul and packing donation boxes in Ankara on Jan. 26 and Feb. 13.

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USA TODAY has previously debunked claims that the earthquake was a manmade attack on the Kurdish people and that it was created by the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program.

USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post for comment. The Twitter user could not be reached.

Reuters has debunked this claim as well.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim that ambassadors fled Turkey before earthquake