In Istanbul, a planned rally by the Crisis Coordination of the Alliance for Labour, Peace and Democracy against the Turkish government's response to the earthquake disaster was violently prevented by police. The initiative reported numerous detentions, while it was unclear how many people were taken into custody. "For years, this regime has been reacting almost reflexively to protests against the political, social and economic grievances in the country," said HDP MP Musa Piroğlu, criticising the police action and demanding the release of all those detained.

"It is not the earthquake, but a corrupt and profit-oriented order that is to blame for the death of the people" was roughly the motto of the meeting that was to take place at the harbour in the district of Kadıköy to issue a public press statement. The police were deployed with a large contingent and practically sealed off all entrances. However, most of the members of the crisis coordination managed to get to Khalkedon Square, where the police encircled the participants at several points. Demonstrators responded by chanting "Government, resign!"

Almost three weeks have passed since the severe series of earthquakes in the border region between Turkey and Syria. Over 50,000 deaths have been confirmed in both countries since then, with more than 44,000 reported by the Turkish authorities alone. Entire cities have been devastated beyond recognition, millions of people are left with nothing. Antakya, for example, the capital of the particularly affected province of Hatay, practically no longer exists. Helpers are still pulling bodies out from under the rubble. It is the deadliest disaster in the history of modern Turkey, a country that has experience with major quakes.

"This makes the state's failure even more glaring, because prevention through disaster prevention, for example, and earthquake-proof urban planning would have been possible," said Piroğlu on the sidelines, who was accompanied by his parliamentary group colleague Oya Ersoy. “The extent of the destruction after the quakes is therefore a direct consequence of the patronage politics of Erdogan's AKP party, which is mired in a quagmire of corruption and nepotism, he said. "Negligence and failures of the state and the incompetence of the AKP have contributed to the fact that we have lost so many people. They were not only buried under the irresponsibility of this state - many additionally froze to death. We know of several hundred cases in Adıyaman alone where people froze to death in the cold because no state help arrived." According to Piroğlu, the HDP assumes up to 100,000 earthquake deaths in Turkey.