The numbers of dead, injured and homeless following the devastating earthquakes in parts of Turkey and Syria continue to rise. The suffering that has befallen the people in the affected areas is immeasurable. Many have been buried under collapsed houses, many have frozen to death in the cold nights before they could be rescued from the rubble.
And by no means has the dimension of the catastrophe been nearly grasped. On the fifth day after the severe tremors, the situation in Turkey remains chaotic. Those affected complain about the lack of aid and discontent among the population continues to grow. Reports that civilian disaster relief is still being prevented in many places and that the state disaster control is still mainly active in the strongholds of the Islamist ruling party AKP, but too little in the Kurdish and Arab areas, are not abating.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, continues to rail against "lies and provocation", threatens survivors who loot shops out of necessity because there is no other help available, and plays party politics.
It is a good sign that the opposition parties are putting aside all political differences. In the face of disaster, they are united by unprecedented solidarity. This was demonstrated by Buldan and Kilicdaroglu, the leaders of the HDP and CHP, on Saturday in the province of Diyarbakir. Accompanied by numerous members of their parties, both politicians visited the area to get an idea of the situation, talked to survivors and met with professional associations and civil society organisations.
"I firmly believe that together we will overcome this disaster and together we will heal the wounds," Kilicdaroglu said during a visit to downtown Diyarbakir.
The delegations gathered in front of the ruins of an eight-storey apartment building from which a 55-year-old woman was rescued from the rubble in the morning after 122 hours of trepidation. The CHP politician thanked all the rescue teams, AFAD, NGOs and civilian volunteers involved in the recovery and care of trapped people in the earthquake zone, but criticised the lack of quick and coordinated help.
In addition, Kilicdaroglu pointed to blatant state failure. He stated that all experts agree that the damage caused by the devastating earthquake could have been limited. But engineers did not follow the regulations on earthquake-proof construction and building authorities did not fulfill their duty of inspection, he said.
"The state has acted wrongly and even approved illegal construction," said Pervin Buldan. The HDP co-chair addressed the trustee administration in Amed and other municipalities formerly governed by her party, which in fact makes decent living conditions impossible. "We could see in all towns administered by so-called trustees that projects for earthquake-proof retrofitting of old buildings were not continued and risk analyses as well as concretely elaborated emergency plans remained completely disregarded. This would not have had to be the case if our elected mayors were sitting in city halls instead of in jail," said Buldan.
"Let us forget all political differences for the moment. Times of crisis are also times of solidarity, which heals and unites," was Kilicdaroglu's final word. To heal the wounds of the earthquake and prepare Turkey for possible future earthquakes, he said, everyone must lend a hand and work together shoulder to shoulder. "We can achieve a lot if we stick together and stand by each other," he said.
Reporter's code: 50101