Women from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and Free Women’s Movement (TJA) met earthquake victims in the Islahiye and Nurdağı districts of Antep province.

Hundreds of women attended the meeting with earthquake victims in two districts after a press statement at the crisis coordination center in Islahiye on the occasion of 8 March, International Women’s Day.

The women, who included HDP Group Deputy Chairperson Meral Danış Beştaş, HDP Ankara MP Filiz Kerestecioğlu and HDP Van MP Muazzez Orhan paid the first visit to the tent camps in Islahiye where they listened to the women voicing their problems. The HDP politicians vowed to bring these issues to the parliament’s agenda.

While the earthquake victims stated that they were left alone as no state institutions came to Islahiye in the first four days after the devastating quake, the deputies and accompanying women said “We will heal your wounds together.”

The women then went to the Gözlühöyük neighborhood of Islahiye and the town of Kırkağaç. The main issues highlighted by earthquake victims here was the lack of water and electricity even 26 days after the disaster.

Referring to the attitude of state officials, the earthquake victims said, “They came here, took down notes and left. We were left to our fate.”

During the visits of the HDP deputies, “purple trucks” sent from all parts of Turkey and North Kurdistan were unloaded to meet the needs of the women in the earthquake areas.