Speaking to ANF in Adiyaman, one of the areas most affected by the earthquake in Turkey, HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) MP Kemal Bülbül said: "In Adiyaman there are thousands of rubble and ruins. Under the rubble are countless human lives. Unfortunately, these people were not reached in time and therefore a great tragedy occurred. Even now, there are reports that sounds can be heard from under the rubble, which is very difficult at this time. We try to direct different teams there. From the beginning, there has been no help from the governor, the disaster management agency AFAD, the municipality or any other government agency in terms of material and moral support or removal of the debris. Moreover, not only has there been no help, but also the media is almost ridiculously giving the impression that everything is going smoothly, and that the government is successful in this regard."

PEOPLE FEEL INSECURE AND ABANDONED

Bülbül pointed out that the rubble has still not been cleared and that most people have lost their lives because of the delay in the recovery work: "There are still corpses under the rubble. The second problem is hunger, the third is thirst, the fourth is communication and the fifth is the lack of a method to make people feel that they are not left alone. Therefore, society feels extremely insecure and abandoned. What should people do who have lost their relatives, children and parents? Should they surrender to the pain, or should they protest? Gradually, the situation comes to a point of severe mental breakdown. During our visit to the hospital in Adiyaman today, the doctors there explained that most of the earthquake victims had lost organs and limbs. Some had to have their arms amputated. The main reason for this, they said, was the delay in search and rescue. The most affected districts are Gölbaşı, Besni and Çelikhan. These are the places that are on the fault line. The villages have not been reached yet, even the district towns have not been reached properly. No help has reached there. As HDP, we met with the mass democratic organisations here as soon as we arrived and formed a coordination and crisis team."

NO STABLE BUILDINGS LEFT

Bülbül said that he was in Mardin at the time of the earthquake and people from Maraş and Adıyaman told him about it in great panic. "We immediately set off from Mardin to Adiyaman and stopped in Kahta on the way. Six buildings in Kahta had collapsed. We visited the hospital around eight in the morning. In the emergency room, we were told of 17 dead bodies. Then we came to Adiyaman and the scenario was one of tragedy. There are no stable buildings left. The remaining buildings are badly damaged and unusable."

AN EVEN GREATER TRAGEDY

Speaking about the crisis team that was immediately set up, Bülbül stated: "The crisis team consists of the HDP and democratic mass organisations. These organisations were very well organised. We set up two collection points, one at the Cemevi (Alevi place of worship) in Yenimahalle and the other at the Hisar Wedding Hall in the Kayalik neighborhood. This is where we send the arriving trucks with relief goods. From these points, the goods were distributed. Since yesterday, the Çınar Municipality has been there and has set up a kitchen in the courtyard of the Cemevi. Since yesterday evening, we have been able to eat something warm for the first time. Food, clothes, blankets and similar things were distributed from the trucks. The most urgent needs at the moment are generators, tents, construction machinery and cranes to be able to lift the rubble. As Kurdish people, we have experienced great tragedies and massacres, but this is an even greater tragedy."