After the earthquakes in Maraş, popular reaction emerged against the indifference to the missing children and the accommodation of some children in a villa in Istanbul/Beykoz owned by the notorious Islamist organisation IHH (Humanitarian Relief Foundation) by the Ministry of Family and Social Services. The fate of children remains an important issue as they are considered as one of the vulnerable groups in times of disasters.

HDP Children's Commission Co-Spokeswoman Türkmen spoke to ANF about what can be done for the earthquake’s child victims and the current situation of the affected children.

Nuray Türkmen remarked that the state does not share information and data about the recent earthquakes, and that this has nothing to do with its feckless response to the earthquakes. She said: “There is a direct ideological and political background here, it is about an approach that considers children enemies, ignores human existence and living beings.”

Türkmen said that there is serious information pollution, which is related to the structural problems of the state dating back to the pre-earthquake period. She said: “Nobody, including the state institutions, has reliable data, numbers or information. The main reason for this is not that we do not collect data or that we are not in that area. Quite contrary, everyone except government institutions has been there from the first day of the earthquake. So, we are the ones who are desperately looking for reliable information. Government agencies which have centralized information systems are the ones that are supposed to keep this information. Since all these institutions became corrupted before the earthquakes and the state could not handle the humanitarian crisis following the earthquakes, there has naturally been information pollution. Due to this chaos, all the official statements made since the first days of the earthquake have been contradictory. For example, the Ministry of Family and Social Services first urged citizens to apply for a foster family. However, immediately after, another statement was made that there was no such a situation. Meanwhile, a lot of sensitive people have applied for it.”

THERE IS AN IDEOLOGICAL, POLITICAL BACKGROUND

Türkmen insisted that there is a serious distrust in the state. She continued: “As the HDP Children's Commission Co-Spokeswoman, I have been dealing personally with problems concerning children in the earthquake-hit regions. Therefore, we know that the information provided by the state is always conflicting, as we follow the subject from our crisis desk and from the ground. I received a lot of questions about fostering and, also about missing children. Our crisis desk helped a lot of children to find their families. This shows that state institutions have not fulfilled their duties from the very beginning. As I said, this is not a post-earthquake crisis. It is not a new crisis at all. For this reason, we are trying to do our best to collect information in solidarity. We are trying to cooperate with other institutions working in the field of children, as well as other organizations and all sensitive citizens on the ground. After the earthquake, the issue of children has become a concern for civic struggle.”

IT IS NATURAL TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT CHILDREN

Türkmen pointed out that: “The state should have released detailed daily reports on the situation of earthquake victims. Because they do not do this, there has been a concern about the issue of missing children. This public concern is very natural. Because we know what lost children came to mean in the country’s century-old state tradition. Moreover, we know that for the last 20 years, the AKP-MHP government has introduced policies hostile to children.

“The state does not share any information or data with us. I don't think that it has anything to do with its feckless response to the earthquakes. There is a direct ideological and political background here, it is about an approach that considers children enemies, ignores human existence and living beings,” she noted.

CHILDREN'S BASIC NEEDS MUST BE PROVIDED

Speaking about the precautions to be taken for children, Türkmen said: “There are children who cannot even reveal their names and cannot speak. Identification checks must be made in the first place during earthquakes. Even if you could not get the child's name during the identification process, everyone now has a mobile phone, and a photo can be taken, and they can be identified. This could have been done immediately after the earthquakes. Then, there are the basic needs. As I said, we have been at the crisis desk for days. We have created a network where our friends help the victims. Here, too, the children we are helping have basic food needs. There is still a lack of nutrition among them and this is very important.”

SERIOUS HEALTH ISSUES

Türkmen noted, “Apart from that, there are a lot of health problems. For example, when a child gets a fever, women abandon all their hard work and take care of the sick child. Thus, the problems experienced by children are not only related to children. The emergence of health issues engulfs women even more. Politically, we do not want to consider children only as extensions of women, but the reality is experienced differently here, and these issues need to be addressed together.”

SOCIAL SOLIDARITY MUST CONTINUE

Türkmen concluded: “Furthermore, there is a need for education since schools are open in other provinces but closed in the earthquake-hit cities. It is difficult for us to talk about playing games with children or providing education when their basic needs are still not met. At this stage, it is also necessary not to treat children with a trauma-oriented approach. There is a strong social solidarity, which is the way for children to overcome the process stronger.”