ADIYAMAN - Aze Deniz Akşar, who is trying to help earthquake victims by joining the voluntary solidarity network established in Adıyaman, said: "Solidarity of People is far ahead of the power of the state."

 

Since the first day of the earthquake, thousands of citizens from many parts of Turkey's metropolises and Kurdistan flocked to the earthquake zones to show solidarity with the earthquake victims. Citizens working voluntarily in many areas such as rescuing citizens who were under the collapsed buildings, collecting and distributing basic human needs, sheltering and heating once again showed how powerful an organized solidarity can be.

 

'ONLY VOLUNTEERS HELPED'

 

Despite his advanced age, Necmetin Toptamur (61), who has been on the field since the first day of the earthquake, is just one of the volunteers. Stating that his 65-year-old brother also came to Malatya from Batman due to the need for a vehicle in the region, Toptamur said: "My brother and I worked in cooking. We are working with the Crisis Coordination established under the leadership of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). People who see what is happening here cannot leave this place conscientiously. Except for the volunteers, there was no one to reach out to the people. After staying in Malatya for 11 days, I came to Adıyaman. I worked in the distribution of aid materials to districts and villages with vehicles. Now I am working in Tent City, which was established under the leadership of HDP. The situation here cannot be explained in words. All this time has passed, but people are still on the streets. We are on the streets, we see it. People are trying to manage by building makeshift tents with sticks."

 

'POWER OF THE PEOPLE IS OVER THE POWER OF THE STATE'

 

Drawing attention to the tent cities established by volunteers in the city, Akşar continued as follows: “There are several tent cities here. The current tent city is a tent city established under the leadership of HDP. The people built it. Now even laundry has been brought here. There are volunteer trainers and they take care of the children. There are paramedics. Here, the needs of both volunteers and the public are met. Later, I heard that there were tent cities affiliated to AFAD in Adıyaman, but the state officials came and said, "I come from the tent city of AFAD. Can you give us a tent?' In fact, the solidarity of the people is far ahead of the power of the state. This is probably why the state tries to block trucks of aid so much.”

 

MA / Ömer Akın