Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked all the countries that have provided aid to Turkey after the devastating earthquakes, Anadolu Agency reported.

In his video message to the participants of the World Government Summit organized on the UAE initiative he noted that "Turkey will not forget the helping hand extended to it in this difficult time.

"Some states have sent rescuers to Turkey, some have shown solidarity by initiating relief campaigns. Some states have issued statements of support for Ankara. The disaster once again proved the importance of international solidarity," the Turkish president said.

He added that 13.5 million people in Turkey felt the effects of the earthquakes. "Scientists said these tremors released energy equal to the explosion of 500 atomic bombs," Erdogan said.

According to him, Turkey faced one of the largest natural disasters not only in its history, but also in the history of mankind.

Earlier it became known that the number of earthquake victims in Turkey rose to 31,643. At the same time, 195,962 people suffered as a result of the disaster.