“Children have frozen to death”, criticism of the Erdogan government for the response to the earthquakes in Turkey

The requests for help do not stop and time is getting shorter and with it the hope of finding survivors among the rubble of the buildings that collapsed after the large earthquakes that affected Turkey and Syria.

On the Turkish side, the victims and relatives of the disappeared have protested the response of the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the emergency.

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In Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of the 7.8 magnitude quake, aid and supplies had not yet arrived on Tuesday. The residents are desperate since voices are still heard among the rubble and they hope to recover their relatives alive. One of them is Ali Sagiroglu, who is waiting for his brother and nephew.

“Where is the State? Where are they? Look around you. There’s not a single official, for God’s sake. It’s been two days and we haven’t seen anyone. They haven’t even brought a brick. Children have frozen to death,” says Ali.

The cold weather has made search tasks difficult, as well as several groups of volunteers have been prevented from reaching certain areas due to the ravages of earthquakes.

Deaths from earthquake in Turkey rise to 11,200

“Yesterday morning you could still hear the voices asking for help in the ruins, but they have stopped. People probably froze to death,” said a man in his 40s who came for help and declined to be named.

According to him, at least 150 people were trapped in each building in the Ebrar urbanization.

With tears in her eyes, Cuma Yildiz criticizes the authorities: “Where are they? They talk, they talk, they fight like dogs, but where are they now?

With their bare hands, the villagers try to free the heavy rocks, but their efforts are in vain. “I have moved three stones over my brother’s head, but it is too hard. My mother’s voice is still clear, but I can’t hear my brother’s anymore,” said Onur Kayai, 40.

Earthquake in Turkey and Syria | “People send voice messages from under the rubble”: the desperate search against time for survivors between aftershocks and freezing temperatures

On Wednesday, Erdogan visited Kahramanmaras and acknowledged the shortcomings in the response.

“Of course, there are shortcomings, it is impossible to be prepared for such a catastrophe… Some dishonest and dishonest people published false statements such as that neither soldiers nor police came,” Erdogan denounced.

It further said that they had displaced 21,000 rescue personnel deployed in Hatay province.

“By acting like this, we will respond to the disaster so that no one is left under the ruins or suffers,” he said less than four months before the presidential election. (YO)