Earthquake victims: No votes, no service 

2023-02-22 13:30:46


	 

	MARAŞ - Ali Topal from the Oğlakkaya District, whose roads were not opened for 4 days during the Maraş-centered earthquake, stated that the neighborhood was not served because the AKP was not voted, and said: "As there are Kurdish and Alevi villages, aid is not brought here."

	 

	Cracks occurred in many houses in the rural Oğlakkaya District with an altitude of 1,900 in Afşin, located on the Sivas border, which was most affected by Maraş-centered earthquakes. Due to the lack of assistance, earthquake survivors settled in their homes, while many people in Elbistan migrated to the neighborhood. The neighborhood road, which is muddy even in sunny weather, is closed in snow and rain. Until today, aid was delivered to the neighborhood, which the authorities did not visit, only once, days later, by the HDP Crisis Coordination Center.

	 

	NO VOTES, NO SERVICE

	 

	Stating that there was no transportation to the village for 4 days, Topal said: “They made roads to the places where the AKP voted, to the mountains and to the plateaus, but when they come to the Oğlakkaya neighborhood, they say that we do not have a budget. They do not help here because it is a Kurdish and Alevi village. We heard that the Mayor of Avşin said to the authorities assembled for the construction of the roads, "How many votes did you get for the AKP, with what face do you want to come and serve from us?" Why don't they look at it as a Kurdish Alevi village, they don't serve. We pay the same tax. They have to build our roads, what are we missing? Even though this is a neighborhood, diesel burns a lot, and the municipality car does not come here because it costs money. We said it's one day a week, they don't even do that."

	 

	'GOVERNMENT FORGOT US'

	 

	N.A., who lives in the hamlet of the neighborhood, said that their house in Elbistan has become uninhabitable. Explaining that there was no road, electricity and tent during the earthquake, N.A. said: "No one took care of us because we are Kurdish and Alevi. If the earthquake had lasted an hour, we would have frozen to death here. No proper help came. What are we going to do at the top of the mountain with a biscuit? We are still afraid. We have no means. There is no service in this village. The roads are muddy. They don't serve us because we don't vote for AKP. The hygiene material never came, the grocery store still does not exist. God forgot us, the state forgot us too.”

	 

	MA / Yusra Batihan