The 16 babies pulled from rubble and evacuated on Erdogan's private jet

Sixteen babies pulled from rubble in southern Turkey were put on the Turkish president's plane and flown to safety.

Images of the rescue were published by Turkey's state-run news agency in the midst of public anger at the Turkish president, accused of mismanaging the emergency response.

The fate of the parents is unclear but state media described the infants as “unaccompanied babies” aged six days to 12 months.

They were collected by foster mothers from Turkey's family and social services ministry, after the plane landed.

Their identities or the circumstances of their rescue are unknown.

In a statement on her social media, the Turkish First Lady, Emine Erdogan, said the babies’ good health “lifted our spirits a little bit”.

“The initial examination was done, and it showed they do not have any problems,” she said. “They are in the safe hands of the state.”

Dr Bulent Gungorer, chief physician at Ankara’s Etlik hospital, told the Anadolu news agency the doctors did not find any health issues even in those two babies that were removed from the wreckage.

Emine Erdogan, the president's wife, was photographed visiting the babies after they arrived at a hospital in Ankara.

Mr Erdogan has faced public discontent over the speed of his handling the country’s worst earthquake in over eight decades.

Questions have also been raised as to whether poor enforcement of building regulations in Turkey made the death toll and damage to buildings even worse.

Mr Erdogan made a brief public appearance on Wednesday as he visited the affected areas including the city of Kahramanmaras.

Mr Erdogan's jet is being used to evacuate the injured, and also move rescue teams around the country, according to state Turkish media.

Mr Erdogan faces what should be a tough re-election in May, and his critics are already blaming the catastrophic death toll and the chaotic response on the ground on a top-down system of government that he built and oversaw for almost two decades.

Southern Turkey and northwestern Syria have been ravaged by Monday's earthquakes, which have destroyed entire towns and villages and killed thousands across the region.

In Turkey, dozens of countries including Britain and even Ukraine have sent rescue teams to assist in pulling survivors from the rubble.

The situation is much more difficult in neighbouring, rebel-held northwestern Syria.

The White Helmets, the rescuers well-known for their work protecting civilians during the ongoing civil war, are trying to prise survivors out of debris in freezing conditions.

But unlike in Turkey, little international aid has arrived to support them, with none arriving in the worst hit areas in the northwest according to local reports.

In both countries the rescue effort continues today. However, the 72-hour window in which most survivors of earthquake disasters are rescued has passed.

It is feared that many already trapped under the rubble who have not yet been saved will pass away from internal injuries, dehydration or hypothermia.