“I can’t get this scene out of my head., keeps repeating Sultan, a resident of Diyarbakir, sobbing, we had been neighbors for years. She was pregnant. She was screaming in terror at the window after the first jolt when the building collapsed on top of her. A family of six… Only the 6-year-old managed to narrowly escape. » Since Monday, the sixty-year-old grandmother has been telling the story, again and again. Reeling from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit southeastern Turkey, she and her relatives took refuge in the premises of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the major city of majority regions. Kurdish country. Installed on the first floor of the building, the family has reconstructed a semblance of interior: mattresses arranged along the walls as a sofa, play area for children, quieter corners reserved for rest…
“I tried to go back home, but I’m afraid the building will collapse. The gas has been turned off… and I have the impression of smelling an odor, like that of a corpse”, she says, a little more marked tension on her face. Sitting cross-legged in front of her, one of her cousins listens to the story for the umpteenth time with compassion. She is waiting for news of three members of her family trapped under the rubble. Three days after the tragedy, miracles continue to happen. The provisional toll of the disaster reports 18,342 dead, the deadliest earthquake in the country since that of Erzincan in 1939, which killed nearly 33,000 people.
For others, anger has now replaced grief. “Do you realize? All solidarity is organized on social networks, people need help, and the authorities decide to suspend Twitter! », enrages Mahmut, a 25-year-old music teacher, with frowning eyebrows and dark eyes. Having grown up in the Kurdish regions under pressure from the central authorities, he nevertheless cherished the dream of one day living in a country free from ethnic tensions. The government’s political response has completely shattered its hopes. “For four days, what has revolted me the most has been Erdogan’s televised speech after the disaster. There was only anger and hardness in his eyes… As a victim of an earthquake, I did not expect that from the president. I saw no pain in his eyes, no empathy.”, he exclaims. The fear that has gripped society in recent years has deterred criticism of the government. The drama of recent days has loosened tongues.
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