Turkey
Looting, violence and sheer misery – after the earthquake, the anger of the population is increasing
A week after the earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria: A man carries his belongings over rubble through the Turkish city of Antakya
© Shadati / DPA
Almost 30,000 people died in the areas in Turkey and Syria that were hit by the earthquake. Dissatisfaction with the devastating effects is now increasing among the civilian population. Anger spreads.
Necessity knows no law – a truism that has once again come true for those affected by the earthquake catastrophe in Turkey and Syria. The main tremor was followed by a number of aftershocks, entire urban areas were devastated, people were left without any support for days and mourned for their relatives.
The government agencies – which can only be said to exist in Turkey, but not in the largely war-ravaged Syrian rebel areas – are not doing enough to help. And even the international support arrives – mainly in the Syrian earthquake zone – only very slowly and with a long delay.
Numerous conflict situations in the border area of Turkey and Syria
This mixed situation also includes the ongoing attacks by the Turkish army on Syria, which in turn coincides with the unresolved Kurdish conflict in the region. Forces of the Syrian-Kurdish so-called “People’s Defense Units” (YPG) are said to have attacked Turkish positions in the border town of Öncüpinar shortly after last Monday’s severe earthquake. In retaliation, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry, YPG units in Tal Rifaat were attacked with air forces. This information cannot be independently verified.
If one wants to start out from a commandment for those affected, then this is simply: survive. And if there is temporarily no state order to ensure the survival of as many as possible, then each and everyone is quickly their own neighbour.
The Turkish authorities have so far arrested at least 48 people for alleged looting. In Hatay province alone, 42 suspects were arrested with large sums of money, jewellery, bank cards, computers, mobile phones and weapons, the official Turkish news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday, citing security officials.
According to a decree also published in the Official Journal on Saturday, prosecutors in the ten earthquake provinces can detain suspected looters for seven days under the state of emergency declared by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It’s been four days so far.
Erdogan had previously announced tough action against looters. “Everyone who is involved in looting or kidnapping should be aware from now on that the state has them firmly in its sights,” said the president during his visit to Diyarbakir province, expressly referring to the emergency regulations.
Now comes the anger
Meanwhile, first aid teams suspended their work for fear of possible riots. The Technical Relief Agency (THW), the aid organization ISAR Germany and the Austrian Armed Forces referred to the security situation. The grief has reportedly turned to anger at times.
“There is increasing aggression between groups in Turkey. Shots are said to have been fired,” said Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Kugelweis from the Austrian Armed Forces of the APA news agency. After a break, the soldiers continued their work. The Turkish army took over the protection of the unit.
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ISAR head of operations Steven Bayer states: “It can be seen that sadness is slowly giving way to anger.” Tamara Schwarz, spokeswoman for the THW headquarters in Bonn, spoke of “tumultuous scenes”. “The reason for this seems to be, among other things, the shortage of food and the difficult water supply in the earthquake area,” said THW and ISAR. The protection of the volunteers is now a priority. However, the teams stayed put.
In any case, the following applies to the teams supporting the area, as well as to everyone who would also like to contribute something from Germany: Necessity knows a commandment, namely that of neighborly help. If you want to help the earthquake victims, you can donate here:
Sources: “Daily Mirror”, ZDF, “Frankfurter Rundschau”DPA, AFP