KILIÇDAROĞLU and İMAMOĞLU MET WITH THE CITIZENS IN THE EPICENTER OF THE EARTHQUAKE.

CHP party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu continued to meet with citizens affected by the earthquake disaster today. Yesterday, Kılıçdaroğlu and İmamoğlu, who visited Adana, İskenderun, Hatay, Samandağ, and Arsuz, moved their tours to Osmaniye this morning and continued on to Nurdağı district in Gaziantep and the epicenter of the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and Pazarcık district.

The citizens shared their complaints and requests with Kılıçdaroğlu and İmamoğlu who empathized with their pain. During a statement he made near the rubble in Pazarcık district, Kılıçdaroğlu said, “The complaints are the same everywhere: ‘There is aid. Machines have arrived. They’re waiting. There aren’t enough workers. They’re not working. Therefore, there’s no coordination.’ We’re going to establish People Coordination Centers now. They will be connected to the General Center. Complaints will be immediately reported to AFAD and relevant units.” In Kahramanmaraş visit, some earthquake victims who came to İmamoğlu said, “People are dying of desperation here, Mr. Mayor. I swear to you, please make it known. I didn’t vote for you in Istanbul, but please make it known.”

NURDAĞI / KAHRAMANMARAŞ / PAZARCIK / GÖLBAŞI / ADIYAMAN 

CHP Genel Başkanı Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and İBB Başkanı Ekrem İmamoğlu continued to meet with the citizens in the region affected by the earthquake disaster today. After visiting Adana, İskenderun, Hatay, Samandağ, and Arsuz yesterday, Kılıçdaroğlu and İmamoğlu started their tours in Osmaniye today and then moved to the center of the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and Pazarcık district of Gaziantep.

Citizens shared their complaints and demands with Kılıçdaroğlu and İmamoğlu who are with them in their pain. In his statement made near the rubble in Pazarcık district, Kılıçdaroğlu said, “Complaints are the same everywhere: ‘There is help. Machines have arrived. They are waiting. There are not enough workers. Therefore, there is no coordination.’” We will now establish People Coordination Centers, which will be connected to the General Center. Complaints will be immediately reported to AFAD and relevant units.

During their visit to Kahramanmaraş, some earthquake victims approached İmamoğlu and used expressions such as “People here are dying from despair, Mr. President. I swear, please let people know. I didn’t vote for you in Istanbul, but please let people know.”

The delegation consisting of CHP Genel Başkanı Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, CHP Genel Başkan Yardımcısı Seyit Torun, CHP Genel Sekreteri Selin Sayek Böke, İBB Başkanı İmamoğlu, visited the earthquake refugee camp established in Nurdağı district of Gaziantep. After getting information from the authorities at the Coordination Center, the delegation witnessed the rubble removal efforts in the center of Nurdağı district. Some citizens complained about the insensitivity and inadequacy of the search and rescue efforts. After the inspections in Nurdağı, the delegation moved to İslahiye district, which is near the center of the earthquake. Some citizens hugged İmamoğlu and shared their pain. During the inspection in the rubble area, a citizen asked for help, saying that no aid team had gone to Hassa district of Hatay, “Many houses have been destroyed. There is no team there. We ask you to direct a team there by making our voice heard.” Kılıçdaroğlu told the citizen that the metropolitan mayor will be dealing with the matter.

“Nightmare Scenes in Kahramanmaraş”

The next stop for Kılıçdaroğlu, İmamoğlu, and their team after İslahiye was Kahramanmaraş, which was the epicenter of the earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6 and experienced great destruction. The team reached the city by using alternative roads at times because some bridges on the main road between İslahiye and Kahramanmaraş collapsed due to the earthquake. The pain and terror of the earthquake was felt in full in the city, and it was seen that nearly all of Trabzon Caddesi, the busiest main artery, had been destroyed. Kılıçdaroğlu and the team witnessed the search-and-rescue efforts in the buildings that were destroyed by the earthquake that delivered a great blow to Kahramanmaraş. Kılıçdaroğlu gathered information from AFAD officials about the work while some earthquake victims shared their pain and complaints with İmamoğlu.

“The Citizen’s Uprising in Kahramanmaraş: Urgent Evacuation Needed”

Dialogue between Imamoğlu and earthquake victims:

1st Citizen: We desperately need big cranes here. We can only work with the equipment available.

Imamoğlu: We have come to discuss it with AFAD. We have been coming from Hatay. Whatever is lacking, we will discuss to help.

2nd Citizen: We lost our loved ones. Nobody is intervening in the rubble.

3rd Citizen: We need to evacuate Kahramanmaraş urgently. We are in a very difficult situation. We need to be evacuated in coordination with other places.

Imamoğlu: We are listening to your suggestions.

4th Citizen: Mr. President, be our voice. They are looting the city Mr. President. There is no law and order in the city.

5th Citizen: Until yesterday there was no such thing as a state here. People are struggling on their own. Now we want to retrieve our dead, but we cannot retrieve it. Our own resources, our strength is not enough for this. Until yesterday, there was nothing here. My uncle and aunt are now under the rubble. We cannot rescue them. This is also killing us.

6th Citizen: There was an earthquake, I left at 5 am. I arrived here at 8 pm. Today is the 3rd day. My mother, father, and sister are inside. The rescue teams have just arrived.

İmamoğlu: We were in Hatay. They gave us responsibility as İBB. We came here to say, ‘What can we complete?’ We are talking to AFAD about this.

“I DIDN’T VOTE FOR YOU IN ISTANBUL, BUT…”

Seventh earthquake victim: People are dying of hopelessness here, Mr. President.

Eighth earthquake victim: Please make this known. I didn’t vote for you in Istanbul but please make this known.

İmamoğlu: It doesn’t matter. Where do you live?

Eighth earthquake victim: Ümraniye.

İmamoğlu: I hope you get good news.

The first earthquake’s epicenter went to Pazarcık

Kılıçdaroğlu, İmamoğlu, and the mayors’ another stop in Kahramanmaraş was the center of the first earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7, the Pazarcık district. The delegation in Pazarcık also included CHP Deputy Group Chair in the Parliament Engin Altay and CHP Deputy Presidents Ali Öztunç and Muharrem Erkek. Kılıçdaroğlu made the following statement while witnessing the ongoing search and rescue operations in the rubble in the district:

I came here with the mayors of Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir, and Mersin Metropolitan Municipalities. They have seen the field as well. Their efforts are being made to meet the needs as soon as possible. We have seen that there is some delay. There are big delays and these delays need to be corrected. We decided to establish ‘Public Coordination Centers’ to assist AFAD. We already have a coordination unit at the General Headquarters. They transfer all the complaints they receive to AFAD. But what I saw in Hatay, what I saw in Osmaniye, what I saw in Maraş, and what I will probably see in Adıyaman as well, is the same complaint: ‘Help is there, machines have arrived, they are waiting, there are not enough personnel, they are not working, therefore there is no coordination.’ We are now going to establish Public Coordination Centers, which will be connected to the General Headquarters. Complaints will be transferred to AFAD and relevant units immediately. Of course, there is also a serious problem with the distribution of aid. We already have a unit under the chairmanship of Hacer Foggo at the General Headquarters. We will reactivate this unit and ask it to work on earthquakes as well. In this way, we want to solve and eliminate the existing problems at every stage as soon as possible. There is one thing that everyone must not forget: Turkey is a rich and powerful country. And our mayors, from the smallest to the largest, are all mobilized at the moment. I came with the Metropolitan Mayors. I saw how their teams work. I saw how they intervened. I saw how they rescued people. Therefore, we will show all our efforts to the best of our ability. I would like the public to be sure of this.