ANKARA - Stating that the government declared a state of emergency in 10 cities affected by the earthquake in order to prevent reactions against him, KESK Co-Chair Mehmet Bozgeyik said: "The state of emergency brought impunity and should be lifted."

 

As a result of Maraş Pazarcık and Elbistan which is epicentered earthquakes, great destructions occurred in Adana, Adıyaman, Hatay, Gaziantep, Diyarbakır, Kilis, Urfa, Malatya, Maraş and Osmaniye. In the first two days of the earthquake, neither President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan nor search and rescue teams went to the area. Erdoğan, who appeared before the cameras 25 hours after the earthquake, where the balance sheet got heavier every hour, announced that a State of Emergency (OHAL) was declared in 10 cities for 3 months. After the state of emergency was declared, many journalists were threatened, harassed and detained. One earthquake victim was detained on the grounds of an unpublished interview.

 

Mehmet Bozgeyik, Co-Chair of the Confederation of Public Workers' Unions (KESK), made evaluations about the earthquake and the State of Emergency declared after it.

 

‘DISASTER REGION SHOULD BE ANNOUNCED’

 

Stating that the effects of the earthquake were based on the AKP's 21 years of looting, plunder and rent, Bozgeyik said: "As of February 6, 04.20, the government was under the rubble. AFAD and Kızılay had been emptied for years. Its own inadequacies have declared a state of emergency here by creating a perception through its own media in order to prevent the opposition groups from conveying the results of objective investigations by the media in the region to the public and to turn the earthquake into an opportunity. We do not find it right to declare a state of emergency. The area had to be declared a disaster area and appropriate measures had to be taken.”

 

THE UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF AKP

 

Reminding that the AKP declared a state of emergency on July 20, 2016 and starting a process of unconstitutionality to continue its existence, Bozgeyik said: “It carried out its policies of repression against the opposition groups through the State of Emergency and secured itself with its policy of impunity. This state of emergency decision shows that the state has collapsed in 10 provinces, its inadequacies and its delay in intervention. There are various steps and doubts about re-establishing the provinces and changing their demographic structure 15-20 days after the earthquake. Erdoğan put the State of Emergency to implement policies that prevent opposition from entering the city and freedom of information. He uses his own policies in the region as a tool to dominate and develop policies aimed at changing the perception and deficiencies in the region while going to a possible election. It brings a policy of impunity to those who torture refugees, immigrants and the public with the state of emergency. It needs to be eliminated.”

 

MA / Yüsra Batıhan