earthquake survivors feel “forgotten” and dream of “profound political change”

Smiling faces amid the rubble. In banners, along the walls or on minibuses chartered for the occasion, the candidates for the presidential and legislative elections of May 14 and 28 are displayed in the province of Hatay, in the south-east of Turkey, devastated by the earthquakes that occurred in early February. But barely three months after the disaster, which left more than 50,000 dead on the Turkish side and at least 8,000 victims in neighboring Syria, the electoral campaign has a bitter taste for the survivors.

“You will have to be accountable”, “We won’t leave here”, warn of hastily left graffiti on the ruins. Everywhere, on hillsides and along the roadsides, rows of tents have sprung up. When they are not parked in camps, the affected families most often sleep in front of their cracked building, forbidden to access, whose gutted facades sometimes reveal sections of living room, kitchen or bathroom.

Assailed by diggers, some blocks of houses now look like a thick carpet of rubble, concrete irons and pieces of furniture reduced to crumbs. In these neighborhoods, the campaign teams have not even seen fit to deploy their electoral propaganda. Who would see them, apart from the police patrols and the few inhabitants who had returned to glean materials for their makeshift shelters?

Less than a week before the first round, the mercury exceeds 30°C for the first time in the province and the country’s pollsters are also overheated. For the presidential election, everyone is predicting a very close first round between the outgoing president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his centrist rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, which hopes to end two decades of Islamic-conservative rule. In parallel with this campaign, earthquake victims warn of the humanitarian emergency, while denouncing the management of the rubble, which poses the risk of a new disaster in the region.

“The politicians have simply forgotten us”

In the cities of the region, the elections are far from being the first subject of conversation. “The state of humanitarian emergency officially ended on May 8, but the situation remains extremely critical,” deplores Nurhan Kizilkan, founder of the NGO Yardim Konvoyu (“The aid convoy” in French). On February 6, the day of the first earthquake, she went directly to the scene to lend a hand to the rescuers. “We saw the port of Alexandretta on fire, crossed the snow and hail to find a region plunged into darkness, there was nothing left standingshe recalls. For three days we avoided eating and drinking because there were no toilets.”

Three months later, the health crisis has not yet been fully resolved – and may even get worse. In the tent and container villages, access to water is a priority site. “Especially when summer is coming, alert Nurhan Kizilkan, and with it the health problems as well as the risks of epidemics. Like many others, the NGO has taken up residence at the foot of the Hatay football stadium, which was also closed because of the earthquake. “We’ll stay here for a while, ensures for his part Kadir, field coordinator, because needs are constantly changing. We go from emergency housing to daily hygiene, from winter boots to sandals.” Without forgetting essential foodstuffs, drinking water, food, which families can no longer afford for lack of work.

In addition to material aid, NGOs in the region are increasingly carrying out cultural activities. This is the case of the association Mavi Kus (“the blue bird” in French), which organizes screenings and workshops around short films for children. “Psychologically, it’s incredibly beneficial for them”, welcomes the filmmaker and documentary filmmaker Necati Sönmez, who is behind this project. Originally from the region, he lost his cousin, his wife and their children in the disaster. He is now camping in one of the hundreds of blue tents distributed by China in the area.

“People here say the state watched them die, that help came too late and in a disorganized way.”

Necati Sönmez, filmmaker and founder of the Mavi Kus association

at franceinfo

“The politicians have simply forgotten us”loose next to him Aynur, 32 years old. “Without help, people were trying to operate the cranes themselves. I heard people, including children, screaming for hours under the rubble before dying”, she remembers, looking gloomy. Unemployed since the earthquakes, this accountant gives a lot of her time to the association. “In the discussions with the parents, we feel uncertainty, but also great anger, she confides. Some were chased out of their homes by the wreckers, while they still had business in their buildings.”

For Necati Sonmez, “the state of emergency has mainly benefited the government, in order to facilitate expropriations and launch urban transformation”. Faced with official promises to rebuild housing within a year, the filmmaker remains perplexed. “It should rather take five, even six years, if we want to do this in a reasoned way and prevent this kind of disaster from happening again”he believes.

Landfills that abound and political parties that “do not hear”

In the valley, the issue of demolitions is controversial. That of the evacuation of the rubble, even more so. Since April 1, residents of Samandag, on the south coast of Hatay province, have been demonstrating to denounce the health and environmental risks of the dumping of rubble, which they consider toxic. “Stop deposits, save lives”they chanted during one of their “vigils for life”, quoted by the Turkish media Bianet (in English).

“We went from three to 18 landfills, including four unofficial”, explains Fernur, 32, co-founder of the Hatay Ecological Platform. On her phone, she scrolls through impressive images taken by a drone. We see hundreds of trucks loaded with rubble moving in single file towards huge piles of debris. For activists, these landfills described as “temporary” by the authorities can cause serious pollution of soils and waterways. “We are in an agricultural region, the risks for the population are enormous”, Fernur alert. “After the earthquake, it would be double the pain.”

More than anything, the opponents of these landfills fear massive contamination linked to the presence of asbestos in the destroyed buildings. This toxicity is denied by the government, but not by the mayor of Hatay, Lütfü Savas. Diplomat, the latter evokes a clearing “probably a little too fast” rubble by Afad, the central government agency. “Asbestos can cause many cancers and respiratory diseases”recalls all the same this career doctor, elected under the banner of the opposition party CHP.

“There is not enough watering to fix the dust, it is very dangerous for the workers and the rest of the inhabitants”chokes Fernur, who evokes a situation “worse than the attacks of September 11, 2001” in New York, following which 70% of rescuers had manifested lung problems according to the American Mesothelioma Center (document in English). “Except here, the volume of debris is much higher, imagine the consequences”she points out.

Independent analyses, still in progress, will serve to alert the population before possible legal action. “The majority of the inhabitants have no knowledge of these risks, it is our mission to inform them”assures Fernur, who also has a grudge against the major political parties. “Yes, the parties have provided humanitarian aid, but they do not hear our calls regarding environmental problems”deplores the activist.

Victims “resent all incompetent politicians”

In the center of Samandag, in the heart of one of the most devastated areas of the city, Cansel Aslan, 36, does not have a minute to herself. “Who manages the pasta?”“Go see what the lady at the gate wants”, she says in Turkish and Arabic to the volunteers of the Hatay earthquake Solidarity collective that she coordinates. Around her are stacked boxes of clothes, food, baby products. Children’s drawings are displayed on the ceiling of the hangar, which collapsed during the earthquakes.

“The first days, nobody came to help us, we had to manage”, she says. haunted by “the cries that came from under the rubble”, she struggles to hold back her tears. When tractor-trailers loaded with donations started pouring in from all over Turkey, the situation of “chaos” pushed her to take over this abandoned place to sort the products. “Very quickly, we understood that we could not expect anything from the government”, she says. The collective now manages three depots, in addition to distributions in the camps.

According to the association manager, the survivors of the earthquakes “resent all incompetent politicians” and denounce the non-compliance with construction standards as well as the “collision” between decision makers and property developers. “Very close to here, 80 people died in a building that was barely four years old”she squeaks, claiming “a profound political change, at all levels”.

Despite this resentment, the elections are closely followed in the neighborhood. Suddenly, cries of joy resound from all sides. Muharrem Ince, one of four presidential contenders, announced on Thursday that he was withdrawing his candidacy, reviving hopes of a first-round victory for Social Democrat Kemal Kiliçdaroglu against Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “All elections are important, but this one is really special,” asks Cansel Aslan, looking at the destroyed buildings on the other side of the street. “The morning of May 15 [au lendemain du premier tour]we hope to wake up with a country in a better state.”