Grief turns into anger after Turkey earthquake leaves a trail of destruction

FP Staff • February 15, 2023, 15:41:56 IST

Many in Turkey express frustration that rescue operations have been painfully slow since the 6 February earthquake. They say valuable time was lost during the narrow window for finding people alive

Many people in Turkey have turned their sorrow and disbelief to rage over the sense there has been an unfair and ineffective response to the historic disaster that has killed tens of thousands of people there and in Syria. AP

When Zafer Mahmut Boncuk’s apartment building collapsed in Turkey’s devastating earthquake, he discovered his 75-year-old mother was still alive — but pinned under the wreckage. Her remains were finally removed Sunday, nearly a week after the building collapsed. His father’s body is still in the rubble. Boncuk directed his anger at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, especially because she seemed so close to rescuing but no one came. AP

Many in Turkey express similar frustration that rescue operations have been painfully slow since the 6 February quakes and that valuable time was lost during the narrow window for finding people alive. AP

Others, particularly in southern Hatay province near the Syrian border, say Erdogan’s government was late in delivering assistance to the hardest-hit region for what they suspect are both political and religious reasons. AP

Onlookers stood behind police tape Saturday in Antakya as bulldozers clawed at a high-rise luxury apartment building that had toppled onto its side. Over 1,000 residents had been in the 12-storey building when the quake struck, according to relatives watching the recovery effort. They said hundreds were still inside but complained the effort to free them had been slow and not serious. AP

Bediha Kanmaz, 60, also blamed Turkey’s government for the slow response and accused the national rescue service of failing to do enough to recover people alive. She and others in Antakya expressed the belief that the presence of a large minority of Alevis — an Anatolian Islamic community that differs from Sunni and Shia Islam and Alawites in Syria — had made them a low priority for the government. AP

Traditionally, few Alevis vote for Erdogan’s ruling party. There was no evidence, however, that the region was overlooked for sectarian reasons. AP

Erdogan said Wednesday that disaster efforts were continuing in all 10 affected provinces and dismissed allegations of no help from state institutions like the military as “lies, fake slander.” But he has acknowledged shortcomings. Officials said rescue efforts in Hatay were initially complicated by the destruction of the local airport’s runway and bad road conditions. AP

Anger over the extent of the destruction, however, is not limited to individuals. Turkish authorities have been detaining or issuing detention warrants for dozens of people allegedly involved in the construction of buildings that collapsed, and the justice minister has vowed to punish those responsible. AP