After the devastating earthquake on February 6, the two-storey house of farmer Mehmet Görüroğlu, located on a fault line in the Güzelburç neighbourhood of Hatay's Antakya district, was damaged and his field was split into two. Görüroğlu first stayed in his car for days with his wife, and now is residing in a tent because he does not want to leave his house and field. Speaking to ANF, he said: “My 40 years of labour was destroyed in the blink of an eye.”

'IT WAS LIKE A HORROR MOVIE'

Görüroğlu stated that he was awake when the earthquake occurred. “As we were about to perform morning prayer, we were putting water on the stove. I don't know what would have happened if I had not been awake. It was very difficult for us to get out of the house because we were shaking. Once my wife and I managed to go outside, we were surprised by what we saw. The earth was split open. It was like a horror movie.”

‘NEITHER THE STATE NOR AFAD CAME TO HELP!’

The farmer said that the asphalt of the highway connecting Reyhanlı to Iskenderun was also split. Görüroğlu added that almost all the cars fell into the cracks and many people were injured. He noted that no one came to their aid for days. “Neither the state nor AFAD came to help us for days. We slept in the car for days. Our feet were frozen and swollen.”

‘EVEN IF WE DIE, WE CANNOT LEAVE HERE!’

Görroğlu’s field on the fault line was split in half and the soil became uncultivable. The farmer said: “We planted lettuce. However, the land will yield nothing this year. My 40 years of labour was destroyed in the blink of an eye. We worked for at least 30 years to build this house. We lost everything.”

Görüroğlu noted that his family could receive a tent only two weeks after the earthquake. He added: “I cannot leave my house and field. We have nowhere to go, everything is here. Even if we die, we can't leave this place. We need a lot of money to rebuild this place. We can't afford it. We ask for help from the state, we want them to take care of us.”