Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdo?an hit out at critics on Wednesday while making a rare admission of shortcomings as he responded to rising disquiet over his government’s response to this week’s devastating earthquake.

He also used the visit to the shattered city of Kahramanmara?, near the epicentre of Monday’s quake, to berate those allegedly taking advantage of the disaster to push their own causes. Such rhetoric laid bare his challenge of maintaining public support during one of the country’s worst natural disasters, just three months before elections that were already set to be his toughest in two decades in power.

“I don’t want you to give the provocateurs an opportunity,” he said as he toured the region ravaged by two major tremors, which killed more than 11,000 people in Turkey and neighbouring Syria. “The media [should] not give them an opportunity?.?.?.?Now’s the time for unity, for solidarity.”