Describing the current situation in the earthquake-damaged city of Adıyaman, HDP politician Bekir Gündüz pointed out that the population in the region will be dependent on supplies for at least a year.
Bekir Gündüz, provincial chairman of the HDP in Adiyaman, spoke to ANF about the situation in the region, which was badly damaged by the earthquake, and listed the current need for aid.
Gündüz explained that although the earthquake had almost said "I am coming", so to speak, the government tried to shake off responsibility by calling it "fate". Gündüz described the extent of the losses and destruction in Adiyaman as follows: "The institutions and the government responsible for the scale of the disaster are talking about fate. However, the number of dead and the destruction is so great due to lack of preparedness. Nearly 300,000 people live in the centre of the province. Almost all houses have been damaged, leaving people starving in the middle of winter and standing half-naked in the frost. Information is circulating that thousands of people are still lying under the rubble. As is well known, the statements of official sources in this country are not credible in the eyes of society because manipulative methods are always used towards the public. Accurate and timely information is not presented to society. But there is information that the number of victims may be more than double what has been published so far."
Gündüz pointed out that Adiyaman was only on the agenda two days after the earthquake and that the intervention was delayed: "As someone who lives in this city, I am a witness to this. I live in a city that was the last on the agenda and the very last to be intervened. Adiyaman was only mentioned two days after the quake. However, we are the city that suffered the most damage from the earthquake after Hatay. The public assumes that the loss of life was so high because of this late response. In addition to the lack of precautions and negligence before the earthquake, people were left alone under the rubble after the earthquake. The people were left alone with their rubble, their dead and their wounded."
The HDP, together with non-governmental organisations, took the initiative due to the late intervention, Bekir Gündüz said: "We, as the existing non-governmental organisations and political parties in Adiyaman, know that this system really offers nothing to the people. Therefore, we have taken the initiative to try to address the wounds, hunger and hardship of our people."
