By ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ (GREEK) TÜRKÇE (TURKISH)
We always used to say “We are [inseparable] like finger and nail” …
We felt to the bone how close we are when experiencing “grief, joy, sorrow and pride” with the pain caused by the two earthquakes that shook Turkey on February 6…
Our hearts bled; they were ripped apart…
We were devastated by every loss of life in Turkey and Syria, and we rejoiced with every life saved…
The world wept with us…
And by tearing down the propaganda, “A Turk’s only friend is a Turk”…
There are many wars in the recent history of Turkish Cypriots; deaths, missing persons, and martyrs…
But this “pain” is the greatest of all… Indescribable, like none other…
I have no doubts, Turkey will deal with this “wreckage… The cities turned to rubble, will be rebuilt…
We too have close to 50 of our people who lost their lives under that wreckage…
For days we experienced the earthquake, moment by moment, the destruction, the despair, the hopes and joys and disappointments all “intertwined” with one another…
We observed with this earthquake, firstly a strong feeling of “solidarity” among people from different religions, races, and nationalities…
We witnessed the efforts of amateur and professional “rescue teams” as well as civil society organisations working heart and soul with an incredible sense of “self-sacrifice”.
The “performance” of the team from the TRNC which worked to rescue our group of students, teachers and parents buried under the rubble of the hotel in Adıyaman made us proud.
There was a serious humanitarian “effort” despite the unnecessary and overbearing politicians, and the charlatanry of so-called “journalists” such as “our wreckage was the best one”…
We witnessed the obtrusiveness of Erhan Arıklı, who engaged in “partisan” actions in all the operations carried out, posted the photographs of the deceased under the party logo as if they were members of his party, prepared posters like election posters, and tried to exploit this pain for political gain…
But there was another “political figure” that was worse than him, who created a real “climate of hate” with his mentality, his statements, and the obstacles he created…
Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu is very much “politically dead” …
He has no support, either from his party or the people…
Unelected, in the seat he occupies by appointment from Ankara, he has committed the “greatest shame” of all for a person…
His attempt to prevent humanitarian aid from the Greek Cypriot side for earthquake victims [in Turkey] is a blow dealt to the Turkish Cypriot community’s “civilized” image…
Ersin Tatar who, like him, strives for political gain through “hatred for Greek Cypriots” had also attempted to reject medicines and vaccines [from the Greek Cypriots] during the Pandemic…
It is commendable and promising to see that our people do not give credit to such a “racist” mentality and that these “shameful” acts that we are subjected to blow up in their faces.
The fact that the two earthquakes caused so much “destruction” and loss of lives, will indeed lead to great arguments…
The world’s most prestigious news agencies are insistently asking:
– Why have so many people died, why have so many buildings collapsed?
Among the answers to these questions, is a long list ranging from the deficiencies of development plans, lack of supervision by municipalities and cheating contractors to bribes given to official authorities…
Of course, what is worse is Türkiye’s failure to derive lessons from disasters such as the 1999 earthquake which cost it dearly.
This is the common view shared by earthquake experts, opinion leaders and experts.
Reports of research carried out in earthquake zones are being published one after the other…
Particular attention is being drawn to the issue of “reconstruction peace” [Translator’s note: construction amnesty legalising nominally illegal constructions] which was granted to hundreds of thousands of illegal buildings…
Unfortunately, “urbanisation and contractors” had a lot of prestige in Turkey during the AKP [Justice and Development Party] era.
It is because of this that the changes made to the “earthquake” regulations and protocols have led to this “disaster” becoming so destructive…
For example, the Red Crescent has been stripped of its power and functions. Former Red Crescent officials have been expressing outrage over this situation on screens.
And with the failure of the army to mobilize immediately after the earthquake added to this, the “loss of human life” has gone very high.
Again, the “aggressive” and profane language used by AKP politicians during this earthquake has not been good in terms of morale and motivation…
Prevention of opposition municipalities from carrying out work is another scandal…
It is seen that the AKP regime is adopting a “fatalist” approach during its management of this natural disaster.
The decision to declare OHAL [State of Emergency] in the earthquake-stricken areas, censoring Twitter and now suspending university education all reflect the “fear” of the regime…
This earthquake, while dragging the “state” out from under the rubble, has revealed to us “the face of the regime” the most.
Under the authoritarian regime nobody was able to act before “receiving orders from above.”
In the army and with those in official positions, “taking initiative” occurred at the lowest levels.
It is being said that there are still tens of thousands of people trapped under the rubble in the 10 provinces hit by the earthquake.
There is also the possibility of an outbreak of disease in those areas. There is a sanitation problem. There are armed robberies being carried out by looting gangs.
Of course, the direct connection between all that is being experienced and the authoritarian character of the “regime” cannot be denied…
The religious, fatalist and autocratic policies of the AKP and the political status quo in Ankara will not be able to withstand the “destructive” nature of this earthquake.
The peoples of Turkey deserve this more than anything.
