Turkey's president has rejected the resignation of the country's interior minister who took responsibility for a poorly timed announcement of a weekend lockdown that prompted thousands of people to rush into the streets to stock up on supplies.

Turkey introduced a new coronavirus lockdown over the weekend that took many by surprise and led to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu offering his resignation late Sunday.

The death toll from a strong earthquake that rocked eastern Turkey climbed to 22 Saturday, with more than 1,000 people injured, officials said.