HDP Van MP Murat Sarısaç went to Antakya and İskenderun, in the province of Hatay, after visiting Elbistan and Pazarcik, in the province of Maraş, where the epicentre of the earthquake was. He said that people in all these places were devastated.

Pointing out that the necessary intervention was not made and measures were not taken after the earthquake, Sarısaç said: “We see that the state left its people in the debris. Because how you act the first 24 hours after the earthquake is very important, and unfortunately, until the third day, people themselves were trying to remove their relatives from the debris. The state did not come. The state was somehow not there.”

This state has no policies but war ones

The state's war and security-oriented policies are the reason for the lack of action after the earthquake, said the HDP deputy, adding that "we clearly saw that the state has no policy to keep its people alive. There is great suffering. The earthquake is over, but people are staying out in the cold."

Preventing aid from reaching people

Sarısaç said: “This earthquake caused people to leave Pazarcık and other places. There is still no action taken regarding this forced exodus. The lack of tents, necessary food, and the lack of medicine for the many elderly people cause people to go to other cities. Here in Hatay, people are trying to go to other cities, while the state is trying to prevent aid coming here. The state is preventing the most needed tents from reaching these areas. We believe that this is based on the policy of expulsion of Kurds and Alevis from their own lands and cities. Because, just as there is a policy of occupation at the borders, we are also faced with a policy of immigration.”