MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

 

Hatay- The two deadly earthquakes that struck Turkey, Kurdistan and Syria on February 6 caused extensive damage in the city of Hatay. On February 20, two more earthquakes occurred in the city, causing the collapse of already damaged buildings. While there are hundreds missing people in the city, the earthquake survivors still face many problems due to the lack of tents, food and other supplies.

They never forget the earthquake day

 The earthquakes have turned Hatay’s Antakya, Defne, Samandağ and Iskenderun districts into ruins. The city still suffers from aftershocks. While some earthquake survivors take shelter in greenhouses or unsound structures, thousands of people have left the city. The death toll in the city is still unknown because there are many missing people. The late search and rescue efforts and the lack of humanitarian aid in the city grow anger among the earthquake survivors. “The state left us to die by ignoring us,” the earthquake survivors say.

 “People were left to their fate’

In an interview with NuJINHA, Hülya Kavuk, an earthquake survivor, said, “It was a terribly rainy day. The rain and aftershocks never stopped for two days. We were left alone for two days. There was no state, no soldiers, no police, no mayor. There was nobody here. People were left to their fate. We did not know what to do. I lost my daughter; I found her after looking for her all day. While I was looking for my daughter, I heard cries for help under the rubble. I will never forget the cries of the people.”

 ‘Our pain has turned into anger’

Underling that many buildings collapsed in the district and in the city center, Hülya Kavuk said, “We will never forget what we experienced on that day. There was no search and rescue team. There are still thousands of people under the rubble. The people suffer from trauma now. Our pain has turned into anger because we were left alone. We have met our needs with our own efforts and the efforts of volunteers.”

‘The AKP-MHP is the party to this massacre’

Hülya Kavuk thinks one of the reasons for the late search and rescue efforts in Hatay was the large Arab Alevi population in the city. “The government caused the deaths of thousands of people by ignoring us for three days. The AKP-MHP government left the people to die for three days. The AKP-MHP is the party to this massacre. The people of Adıyaman, Maraş and Hatay will never give their blessing. The people will never forget what they experienced. What we experienced was a massacre and the government will give account to the people.”