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TURKEY’S authoritarian government was accused of “political power games” today after blocking aid to the victims of Friday’s Elazig earthquake, in which at least 39 people were killed with thousands injured and displaced.
Representatives of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and former co-chair Figen Yuksekdag’s Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) visited the area today. They reported an acute shortage of heaters and blankets, with people forced to live in makeshift buildings and tents.
According to Turkey’s Disaster & Emergency Management Authority (Afad), 72 buildings were destroyed and 514 severely damaged when the 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck on Friday night.
The government has been criticised for its ill-prepared response to the disaster and stands accused of squandering tax money earmarked for such circumstances on infrastructure and vanity projects.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu hit out at critics with the government opening investigations into 50 people for their social media posts relating to the earthquake.
An HDP crisis team was established soon after the quake and has been on the ground, visiting about 60 villages in the surrounding areas.
The Turkish state had not reached these villages, the HDP said, with aid only being distributed to supporters of the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP).
It accused the ruling party of blocking non-governmental organisations from entering the disaster area, warning of “an obstruction of the solidarity” shown across the country and internationally.
Truckloads of relief supplies collected by the HDP and its local councils were blocked by security forces. As a result tents, blankets, food and other urgent supplies were not able to reach those affected by the earthquake.
The party delegation that visited the area warned that “the situation remains catastrophic,” with thousands in need of help.
“The government must allow offers of aid instead of sticking to its narrow-minded power games and preventing solidarity. Pain is pain for us all,” an HDP statement said.
