The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) crisis team in Amed (tr. Diyarbakir) held a press conference at the Kayapınar district association about its work after the 6 February earthquake. HDP provincial association co-chairs Gülistan Atasoy and Zeyyat Ceylan, Hayrettin Altun of the DBP (Democratic Regions Party) and Abbas Şahin of the Green Left Party attended the press conference on Sunday.

Gülistan Atasoy recalled the tens of thousands of dead and injured and the millions affected in the earthquake zone and said: "Since the first day of the earthquake, there have been many shortcomings caused by the centralist and monist understanding of the government. But the solidarity of the people promised hope. It was realised that collective solidarity is the basic requirement against the militaristic understanding of the state. Although only six buildings collapsed in Amed, the inadequacies cost 409 lives."

“The HDP Crisis Coordination has tried to assist those affected and is active not only in Amed but also in other areas. An additional complicating factor in the relief work is that Amed, like many other Kurdish cities and municipalities, is under trustee administration. Without the trustees appointed by the Ministry of the Interior in recent years instead of the elected mayors, and the system this has created, much more effective work could have been done,” the HDP politician said.

Abbas Şahin, co-spokesperson of the Green Left Party in Amed, said: "As you know, the AKP came to power in 1999 after the earthquake and the disaster caused by the lack of precautionary measures in the Marmara region. The 23-year AKP government did not learn any lessons from the '99 earthquake but went even further and opened up the entire nature and resources of the people to the profit motive and agreed to a massacre for the enrichment of a handful of its supporters. Even though the political power is trying to evade responsibility with its usual policy of perception control by calling the event a catastrophe of the century, the people recognise the reality. The government is trying to hold on to power with its day-to-day politics and has thus made itself the murderer of tens of thousands of people. With the amnesties issued in the construction sector, permits for hundreds of thousands of houses were issued without oversight and turned into a political show. Short-term profit-oriented politics was and is disastrous for this society."

Regarding its work so far, the crisis team said that urgently needed relief supplies such as hot food and blankets were delivered immediately after the earthquake. “This work will continue with thousands of volunteers. Relief supplies have also been sent to remote villages, with a hundred trucks from Amed alone travelling to other provinces with necessary supplies.”

"The state and the government were not present in the earthquake zone for three days and then started confiscating relief goods to enrich themselves. Our people, who are well aware of this usurper mentality, and the civil institutions and initiatives of the city continue to bind their wounds by not giving up their solidarity despite the pressure," Şahin said.

In Amed, earthquake damage to over 2,000 buildings has been recorded so far, according to the crisis management team: "The number of buildings that urgently need to be demolished is given as 50. This data means that tens of thousands of residents are facing an urgent housing problem. In view of this situation, the government has decided to open Antalya to Amed. The fact that attempts are now being made to solve the housing problem with a migration policy such as moving to Antalya reminds us of the resettlement policy since the founding of the republic. Instead of permanent solutions, the state is deliberately trying to use people for this policy by just providing tents."

Outside the city, a tent city for 20,000 people is to be built, which will also bring problems, Şahin continued: "To see the people who were left outside due to lack of precautions facing floods and diseases at any moment on the edge of the Tigris, which will lead to further destruction, is nothing but solving a problem with a new problem. We ask what problem is being solved for the people who barely survived the earthquake by isolating them from social life outside the city and exposing them to possible risks?"

Remarking that it is an essential necessity to empower local people and take the initiative, Şahin stated: "Trying to manage everything from one source and one centre exposes our people to constant natural and social crises. While very serious measures should be taken in our country and lives should be shaped accordingly, policies that disregard human life have only led to unlimited growth of big business and big capital, and tens of thousands of lives have been destroyed as a result of an understanding that has become increasingly reckless, detached from all control and disregarding human lives."

HDP provincial co-chair Zeyyat Ceylan said: “The current phase is about healing the wounds. At the same time, the struggle against the monist and profit-oriented system must be intensified. We must continue our lives in our own country, no matter what. There have been so many victims because there were no precautions. People were left defenceless. We will always defend life in place. Without the trustee regime, these shortcomings would not exist. The trustee-run municipalities cannot provide effective assistance. All people know that the state has not fulfilled its role and mandate. In Amed, solidarity has been built over 50 years of struggle. Our remedy is our people, the organisation of our people. Hundreds of people are still under the rubble, outside, homeless. Let's take care of each other. Let us join hands in solidarity."