HDP Mersin Deputy Fatma Kurtulan spoke to ANF in Pazarcık where Monday’s earthquake caused great destruction. She said: “We know that there is no single injury from earthquakes in many places. Experts in Turkey have repeatedly warned the government about earthquakes, but no measures have been taken.”

Kurtulan noted: “We asked for measures to be taken and for buildings to be checked in the Assembly following the Elazig earthquake.”

The HDP deputy continued: “The construction industry in Turkey is uncontrolled. We ask where the money collected for the earthquake went, but there is no answer. The government does not take these measures on purpose because it does not care about citizens’ safety. The HDP has been helping people from the first day. Volunteers and aid supplies are piling up here, but there is no state. Citizens say that they have not seen the state. Some people trapped under the rubble died because of the cold weather as there were no rescue efforts. Everyone says that ‘there is no state’. The survivors are hungry, thirsty and finding no place to shelter. It was the HDP municipality which first distributed hot soup. With the solidarity of the Kurds and their friends in other regions, the survivors remain alive. This state could not even provide water and bread for its citizens.”

“Why was the state of emergency declared after the earthquake? They are still obsessed with bans. Instead of rescuing citizens from the rubble, the government blocked the press, the opposition and social media... This is a corrupt rule,” added the HDP member of parliament.