On Wednesday, cities in Northern Kurdistan were hit by heavy floods, which particularly affected the earthquake-hit cities of Urfa, Adiyaman, Malatya and Mardin. According to official reports so far, 17 people were killed and five others are reported missing as large areas were flooded. The conditions of many people already homeless because of the earthquakes have worsened again.

On Wednesday, the mayor of Urfa, Zeynel Abidin Beyazgül of the AKP, was met with boos from an angry crowd as he surveyed the rescue work. The anger increased when information spread that a bodyguard of the AKP politician pointed his gun at the protesting crowd. Beyazgül was taken to his car under police protection and had to leave the place.

The European Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress (KCDK-E) released a statement calling for solidarity and severely criticising the AKP/MHP regime. The statement released on Thursday said the following:

"The fascist regime has turned residential areas into disaster zones for the profit of their own criminal networks. It disregards the lives of our people and treats us as enemies.

Our people have witnessed the indifference of the fascist regime in the earthquake and now in the flood disaster. The places affected by the floods have been in the hands of the AKP for 21 years. The ecological structure has been destroyed for profit and people have been left to die.

In many places, people protested against this policy of systematic neglect and the lack of aid in the face of the disaster. The protests were directed against the regime and its local representatives.

We call for solidarity in the face of this disaster. The regime is leaving the people alone. We offer our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this flood disaster and wish the injured a speedy recovery."