(Adiyaman) Three days after Turkey’s worst earthquake in decades, Hakan Tanriverdi has a very simple message for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “Don’t come here begging for votes. »
More than 20,000 corpses were pulled from the rubble in four days, including those in neighboring Syria. The disaster comes at a decisive moment for the Turkish head of state, who intends to stay in power.
Prime Minister from 2003 to 2014, President since then, the irremovable Erdogan confirmed at the end of January the holding of presidential and legislative elections on May 14.
This close date gives the opposition little time to designate its common candidate.
The possibility of holding these polls after such a disaster, however, is speculative.
PHOTO ADEM ALTAN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Survivors set up a makeshift camp through the rubble at Kahramanmaras.
A state of emergency has been declared for three months in the ten affected provinces. Authorities estimate that 13.5 million Turks were directly affected by Monday’s earthquake, which measured 7.8.
Residents continue to search for survivors under the rubble – but mostly only find corpses. For the survivors, remains the icy street. Or for the lucky ones, their car.
For the Turkish president, the moment seemed propitious. Falling in the polls last year due to the economic crisis and inflation at over 85%, he saw his popularity gradually rise.
But the lack of management of the earthquake in the first days by the government risks reversing the trend.
“We are deeply hurt that no one has supported us”, plague Hakan Tanriverdi.
In Adiyaman, capital of the eponymous province where he lives, Mr. Erdogan had easily won in 2018. But five years later, the inhabitants denounce the slowness of the relief and the lack of equipment to come to their aid.
“I didn’t see anyone before 2 p.m. on the second day of the earthquake,” 34 hours after the first tremor, thunders Mehmet Yildirim. “No state, no police, no soldiers. Shame on you ! You left us on our own”.
” A sin ”
The head of state on Wednesday acknowledged “gaps” in the government response. But he tries to regain control. On Tuesday, he took part in a rescue meeting in Ankara, before spending the next two days in ravaged areas. Without however stopping at Adiyaman.
“Why doesn’t the state show up on a day like this?” Where are the foundations of the Republic of Turkey? “, vituperates Hediye Kalkan, a volunteer. “People take out the bodies of their loved ones on their own.”
The scale of the disaster, the fact that it occurred in a vast and isolated region, and moreover during a winter storm, would however have complicated rescue operations in any country.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan thus received a rather warm welcome from certain victims, during carefully choreographed visits broadcast on television.
PHOTO TURKISH PRESIDENCY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Recep Tayyip Erdogan hugs a lady during his visit to Kahramanmaras.
Footage showed him hugging a crying old lady on his shoulder.
Veysel Gultekin should not reserve the same treatment for its president. One of his relatives had his feet stuck under rubble, he says. “We talked until morning. I could have gotten it out of there if I had had a simple drill. […] But unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything with my bare hands.
“At the next tremor, his whole body was covered (by rubble) and he died.”
AFP journalists saw more lifting gear and rescue workers on Thursday – including brought in by foreign missions – around ruined buildings.
Nothing that can calm Hakan Tanriverdi.
“People who did not die in the earthquake were left dying in the cold,” he said. “Isn’t it a sin, letting people die like that?” »