BÊRÎTAN SARYA

News Center- NuJINHA spoke to Canan Yüce, Co-chair of the Socialist Refoundation Party, who has been making solidarity efforts in Hatay since the second day of the Maraş earthquakes, about the situation of the earthquake survivors and the late search and rescue efforts in the city.

 

Two deadly earthquakes centered in Maraş affected 10 cities in Turkey. Talking about the situation in Hatay after the earthquakes, Canan Yüce said, “I arrived in Hatay on the second day of the earthquake. The situation was worse than I expected. The earthquakes caused widespread destruction in Hatay city center and its districts such as İskenderun, Kırıkhan, Antakya, Defne and Samandağ. When we arrived in Hatay, there were no search and rescue efforts. The people did not even have water. Dozens of people were waiting near the collapsed buildings to find their loved ones in the rubble. On the third day of the earthquakes, search and rescue teams began to come. We always called for mobilization to rescue the people in the rubble; however, many people died in the rubble due to the late and insufficient search and rescue efforts.”

‘There was no phone signal’

“Although six days passed since the earthquakes, there was no phone signal in Hatay,” Canan Yüce said, “We heard the voices of people in the rubble; however we could not direct the search and rescue teams and the volunteers there since there was no phone signal. Due to bad coordination by the authorities, search and rescue efforts started very late.  Volunteer search-and-rescue teams arrived earlier, but they did not have materials to rescue people. There was a serious lack of coordination in Hatay and all mechanisms of the state stopped.”

Many volunteer teams went to Hatay to rescue the people trapped in the collapsed buildings. “As volunteer teams in Hatay, we mobilized and tried to do our best. Construction and mining workers also participated in search and rescue efforts. However, as of the third day of the earthquakes, we began to work in order to meet the urgent needs of the earthquake survivors because they had nothing to eat, drink or wear. We have provided clean water, bread, food, blankets to earthquake survivors and then realized how the earthquake survivors suffered from the heating and housing problems. We tried to reach all earthquake survivors through our coordination centers. As volunteers, members of NGOs, trade unions, political parties, socialists, women, young people, we worked nonstop for days to meet the needs of the earthquake survivors. But unfortunately, even after 20 days after the earthquakes, people still need tents and somewhere to stay in to keep themselves warm. Although many people still report their missing loved ones, the excavators have already begun to clear mounds of debris in the city,” Canan Yüce told NuJINHA.

 

‘'Soldiers and police prevented efforts’

On the third day of the earthquakes, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency in 10 cities affected by the earthquakes. Although volunteers and NGOs called on the government to mobilize soldiers and police so that they could make efforts to rescue people, soldiers and police did not participate in any search and rescue efforts for days. Speaking about the declaration of the state of emergency, Canan Yüce said, “Hatay is a border city and there are tens of thousands of soldiers and police in the city. However, they did not make efforts to rescue people. Since the fifth day of the earthquakes, we have seen soldiers wandering in the city. As a person who arrived in Hatay on the second day of the earthquakes, I want to say that soldiers and police created chaos by preventing search and rescue efforts, instead of participating in these efforts.”

 ‘AFAD teams arrived in Samandağ on the fifth day of the earthquakes’

“There were only volunteer teams in Samandağ,” Canan Yüce said, “AFAD teams (Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) arrived in Samandağ on the fifth day of the earthquakes. Six neighborhoods of Samandağ have been wiped off the map. Many buildings also collapsed in Defne and Armutlu. We saw how the government pursued a discriminatory policy.”

The earthquakes also displace many people in Hatay and its districts. “Many people, including children, women had to leave Antakya due to the earthquakes. But they told us that they would return to their homeland. In Antakya, Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Circassian, Arab Alevis and Christians lived together before the earthquakes. They say they will return to Antakya and live together again.”

‘Solidarity gives hope in Hatay where the state collapsed’

“Solidarity gives hope in Hatay where the state collapsed,” Canan Yüce said, adding, “Since the first day of the earthquakes, people from all cities in Turkey such as Van, Edirne, Samsun, Hakkâri and Artvin have been in solidarity with the earthquake survivors by sending aid supplies. Despite the discriminatory policy of the government, people from all religions and nations living in Turkey have mobilized for the earthquake survivors. Our motto for the International Women’s Day is ‘Women’s Solidarity keeps alive’. Women should be in solidarity with earthquake survivors more to heal their wounds. In the earthquake zones, women still need clothes, pads and hygienic products. We should grow our solidarity to reach all women in the earthquake zones.”