Does the earthquake change the political climate in the regions devastated by the earthquake of February 6? Franceinfo went to take the pulse of the population, especially in Antioch, a particularly bruised city.
Antioch, Turkey, was almost completely destroyed by the February 6 earthquake. The inhabitants left it, for other cities or villages in the mountains, the less fortunate lodged in tents, planted in the parks of Antioch and around. They come back during the day to collect some belongings for those whose house is not completely collapsed. This is the case of Ertan, an agricultural engineer. He lived in the old town. He lost everything the night of the disaster.
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Turkey is preparing despite the disaster to vote on May 14 in the presidential and legislative elections, and he intends to participate. But he will not vote for the government: “Sensible people will not forget the lack of organization, the shaky coordination, he explains. This is still the case even today… Our friends here help people move their things. There is nothing organized. We have to fend for ourselves… It’s a mess. We are all worried. And our anger, we will not forget it.”
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In a camp organized by the Turkish Workers’ Party, along the Orontes River, MP Sera Kadıgil is sure: anger is stronger than sadness. “Even if people lost their child, their parents and could not bury them, sighs the deputy. Because you see all these destroyed buildings around you, you can smell the rotting bodies under the debris.”
“We won’t forget, we won’t forgive and we won’t let anyone forget or forgive.”
Sara Kadigil, MPat franceinfo
A few kilometers up the mountain, it’s not the same discourse of the villagers who find themselves around a table between two tents overlooking the olive groves. And politics is the least of their worries.
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“Believe us, our only concern is the lack of water, the psychological state of the children, and the fact that we haven’t received enough tents, underlines one of them. There are some in the city centers, but not in the villages. There is not enough aid reaching the villages. These are our problems. So yes, there will be elections, we will think about it when the time comes. But for the moment, we don’t think about it. We think about surviving, about our children.”
Some, however, are ready to forgive Erdogan
So there is still a lot of uncertainty, despite the anger over government delays and failings. This is evident in Adiyaman some 300 km north of Antioch. Here too, the city is still a huge construction site, the same landscape of rubble, of tent camps. It is a stronghold of the ruling party AKP. This is where President Erdogan came to ask for forgiveness. Many are ready to grant it.
This is the case of Bayram, whom franceinfo finds at the market looking for waterproof canvas to protect its provisions. He was lucky enough to save his whole family. “If we didn’t have a leader, we wouldn’t have anything, thus believes Bayram. Although we delayed three days, after the third day, our government did everything to help us. And they continue. That’s why I forgive him.” “I hope our president will hear what I say and continue to help us, that he will prevent worse from happening, he continues. I hope he makes good plans for people who no longer have a home. We believe in him, we believe in him.”
Bayram recognizes that some of his friends have changed sides and will not vote for the president. But the percentage is difficult to estimate.
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Ufuk is a surveying engineer in Adiyaman. And he’s not very optimistic. He arranged to meet us in the city center in front of the Adiyaman clock, which has become a symbol:
“We forget everything very quickly at home, and we will very quickly forget this disaster too. And since we are backward and we attach everything to belief and destiny, I think that Tayyip Erdogan will have the result he hopes for in Adiyaman.”
The earthquake will therefore perhaps not change mentalities in this stronghold of the AKP. But will the country once again vote for Erdogan? The games remain open. What is certain is that if the opposition wants to win it will have to convince, beyond the accuracy of its criticisms, of its ability to rebuild these provinces, to rebuild without falling into the mistakes of the past.