Anger at the government
Even one year after the devastating earthquake in Turkey and northern Syria, which left well over 55,000 people dead, hundreds of thousands of people are still suffering from the consequences of the disaster. Despair, but also anger at their own government, characterize the prevailing mood. This was also made abundantly clear at a memorial service in the Turkish city of Antakya.
Thousands of people booed the country's government, sometimes calling them "murderers". There were repeated chants demanding the resignation of the provincial mayor Lütfü Savas. There were also scuffles with the police. The government, led by the Islamic-conservative AKP, is accused of having sent rescuers and aid to the affected region in the south-east of the country too late and of now also being slow to push ahead with reconstruction in Hatay province and its capital Antakya.
One participant at the rally told the German Press Agency that the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was ignoring the suffering of the people in Hatay. Savas, who belongs to the country's largest opposition party CHP, is also accused of negligence.
"Does anyone hear our voices?"
The minute's silence at 4:17 a.m. local time was interrupted by shouts of "Does anyone hear our voices?". Rescuers also shouted this phrase a year ago when they spent days searching for people trapped in the rubble. Today, it expresses the fact that many people in the region feel left alone with the consequences of the disaster. People lit candles on the ruins of destroyed buildings in memory of those killed there and threw red carnations from a bridge into the River Asi, which flows through the city.
Others held signs demanding that those responsible in administration and politics be brought to justice. The legal investigation into the reasons for the tens of thousands of deaths caused by hundreds of thousands of collapsed buildings is repeatedly criticized.
What has become of the rapid reconstruction
Erdogan had promised to rebuild the region quickly. However, the local people are still suffering greatly from the consequences of the earthquake. They are complaining about the lack of aid, such as food and clothing donations. According to official figures, almost 700,000 people in Turkey are housed in containers. Even though Ankara officially states that tent cities have been dissolved, an unknown number of people are still living in tents. According to Save the Children, every third child made homeless in the earthquake region in Turkey is still living in emergency accommodation.
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