Meal preparation, water transport, waste management, electrical connection… To meet basic daily needs, the victims call on the “D system” and set up makeshift camps. Report in Defné, a district of Antioch.
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At the end of a street lined with buildings almost all still standing but all empty, small flickering lights and a brazier that produces meager flames to fight against the freezing cold are installed in a small cement courtyard. It is a makeshift camp: residents of the Defné district, in Antioch, in southern Turkey, found themselves there, survivors of the earthquake of February 6, 2023, which killed tens of thousands of dead and more injured and homeless.
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Ibrahim, wrapped in a blanket, woolen hat pulled down to his eyes, says: “Here it was a cafe and according to their means everyone brought back what they could. People started cooking, those who heard about it came and now see people sleeping here.”
“The government is not doing its job”
In this region close to the Syrian border, state aid has still not arrived, four days after the violent earthquake which hit Turkey and Syria and killed more than 20,000 people. But solidarity has done its work, says Metin Udak: “I’m quite proud of our organization. First 60, 70 people came the next day. We have now exceeded 100.” One team is in charge of the water, another of the meals, a third burns the waste to avoid diseases.
The small community is getting organized, there is electricity thanks to Mehmet, a student from Ankara. “I called my friends and they sent me money, gave me a car, a generator, clothes…, he confides. There were so many that not everything fit in the car. The government is not doing its job, our government is so slow but people are acting fast.” Tomorrow, Mehmet will leave for a new neighborhood: “There is so much to do, he adds, in this broken country”.
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