MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

 Semsûr (Adıyaman)- Two devastating earthquakes struck Turkey, Kurdistan and Syria on February 6, 2023. In more than 10 cities and their villages, many houses and buildings collapsed or were destroyed in the earthquakes. In the villages of Semsûr (Adıyaman), people have already planted tobacco because it is the only source of income for them. Despite everything, women struggling to survive say they have no place to store the tobacco after harvesting it. They plan to sell tobacco without drying due to lack of a place to store it.

They have no house or barn

 In the town of Balyan, dozens of houses were completely destroyed and many were severely damaged in the Feb.6 earthquakes, killing about 70. Although five months have passed, the people of Balyan have housing problems. The citizens living in tents are afraid of snakes and scorpions while the citizens living in containers spend most of their time outside due to burning hot weather. The women of the town have already planted tobacco to earn a living. In an interview with NuJINHA, they said that they still face housing problems. “We do not even have a barn to store tobacco after we harvest them.”

Women earn a living from mulberry, tobacco and chickpea

Kudret Yeter, one of the residents of the town, told us that they planted tobacco late due to the earthquakes. The women of the town now harvest and dry mulberry to sell them. “In the town, women work hard to earn a living. These days, we harvest mulberry and chickpeas while working in tobacco fields. We could not work for a long time after the earthquakes. Now, we have to work hard to earn a living for our families. We live in a container now but it is too hot to live in. We do not know what we should do and what will happen. We have lived with uncertainty for five months. We try to earn a living despite these uncertainties.”

‘We are asked to pay in order to change the container’

Another resident of the town, Zexe Demirtaş told us that the container given to them was leaking because there was a hole in it. “We are asked to pay in order to change the container. We cannot live in tents because we are afraid of snakes and scorpions. After the earthquakes, the people waited for days in order to be rescued. Two weeks after the earthquakes, we were given tents. We shared a tent with seven families for days. We waited for containers for months. The container given to us by AFAD (Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) is leaking because there is a hole in it. I cannot stay in a tent or container now so I stay in my damaged house. My house is severely damaged but I have to stay in it.”

‘We will starve without tobacco’

Zexe Demirtaş and other women living in the town think about what they will do when they start harvesting tobacco. “We have planted tobacco but we do not know what we will do after harvesting it because we have no place to store it. The people of the town depend on tobacco to earn a living. We do not know what we should do. I guess we will have to sell tobacco without drying.”

Şükran Ergan also complained about the lack of a place to store tobacco. “We have no place to store tobacco. Since there is no place, we will have to sell tobacco without drying it. Tobacco is the only source of income for the people and if we do not plant it, we will starve,” said Şükran Ergan, calling on the authorities to build houses for the quake survivors. “No one can stay in tents or containers anymore due to the hot weather.”