Making a statement about the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hitting Van province and its districts and villages, BDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaþ remarked that the government hadn’t reached Van for 24 hours and called on the government to take immediate steps to help the citizens in the region.

Demirtaþ noted that the situation of student dormitories were quite bad and underlined that the people in the villages they examined had a serious shortage of living material. Demirtaþ said; “In the villages we examined, we saw how abandoned people are since the government still hasn’t reached many villages. Natural disasters should never be involved with politics. Everyone should act with solidarity with the people in Erciþ. We call everyone to show awareness and to support the people of Van.”

One other statement was made from the Crisis Desk by Van Mayor Bekir Kaya who expressed that the figures concerning casualties weren’t clear and did not reflect the truth. Remarking that the Governor's Office refused their demand to make a joint work, Kaya indicated that people were still on streets, waiting for tents, food and drink water.

Kaya said that Van was caught unprepared in the earthquake and expressed that they had observed a terrible scene in the villages they observed and marked that the aids still hadn’t reached the area where people had to stay outside in winter conditions although one day had passed over the earthquake. Kaya called all sensitive circles and employers in particular for affording support to the region.