Hell continued in Turkey after the earthquake: thousands of people live on the streets

Yana Vlasova has been living in Turkey for over 20 years. The woman is a medical doctor. After the earthquake, she went to the epicenter of the disaster to help the victims. A month and a half later she returned to the destroyed cities and was horrified. “Erdogan gave his word that the cities would be rebuilt within a year,” says Yana. – Now the president has an active election tour in Turkey. He came to Hatay, Adiyaman. They show a beautiful picture on TV, the Turks are reassured that everything is fine. But in reality this is far from the case. All resources are thrown at the construction site. Meanwhile, people live in inhuman conditions.”

“Come on, calm down”

– A couple of weeks ago, I received a request from a rescuer who works in destroyed cities. He said that people are still living in tents, they have not taken a shower for more than a month. I asked for help with underwear and personal hygiene products, – says Yana. – I threw a cry on social networks. None of the Turks responded. And for all the time of my volunteering, not a single Turk gave a penny. Help mostly Russian speakers.

Among my friends there are wealthy people. When I asked them to buy something for the refugees, none of them supported me. One said: “Come on, calm down, the state is doing what it sees fit.” Turks live as if nothing happened.

Not all residents of the affected regions left their homes after the earthquake. Thousands of people live on the street for almost two months. There was a massive flood in that region recently. One family was unable to get out of a metal container that became their temporary home. Water covered the container, the door was blocked. The people inside choke.

– Last week I went to Adiyaman to see what was really going on there. I thought that everything in the city had been dismantled for a long time, cleaned to zero, and new buildings were being erected on the site of the collapsed houses, – the interlocutor continues. But everything turned out to be sadder. I saw a ghost town. Not a soul on the streets. A concrete mixer and a truck filled with sand occasionally passed by me. The whole center is in ruined houses that have formed like puff pastries. They weren’t even touched. If earlier buildings were fenced and guarded, now the city is abandoned. The smell is unbearable. What is under these houses, only God knows.

They explained to me that at first they decided to build up the outskirts of the city. And when resources appear, they will clear the rubble.

Untouched were houses with cracks that were never demolished. Our friend was looking for a long time where to park the car, he was afraid to leave it next to the buildings. People have an instinct, and suddenly another earthquake.

More than 50,000 people are currently dead. I used to think that this figure should be multiplied by ten, but now I can’t even imagine how much I have to multiply. According to official figures, more than 300 thousand SIM cards are not active after the earthquake. So how many people are missing?

“Toilets are dirty, there is no water”

Yana brought humanitarian aid to a tent city where 2,500 people live.

– We visited the camp where Turks, Kurds and Syrians live. There were families with many children, pregnant women, babies, old people, – the interlocutor shares her impressions. – It’s cold outside, there is a stove in the tents, which is heated with sawdust. The territory is guarded by soldiers. They do not let strangers in, they control that there are no fights, skirmishes and theft.

Each camp has its own director, who works on a rotational basis and is replaced every week. Apparently they don’t last longer. In this camp, the director was a local teacher. His duties include maintaining documentation for residents and new arrivals, coordinating the actions of staff, and accepting humanitarian aid.

There are problems with mobile phones in the camp. There can only be one smartphone per 10 families. Sometimes people turn to the director or soldiers to call. And many still do not get in touch with loved ones.

Living conditions are terrible. There are only 50 toilets for 2,500 people, essentially a hole in the floor. The women were delighted when we brought cleaning supplies.

Showers are missing. A trench with water was dug near the tents, so people are watering each other. Near the toilets there is a small sink with ice water, some people use it. We brought a large shipment of wet wipes for the women to wipe their children.

Now Ramadan is going on, so a prayer tent has been set up on the territory. Before prayer, Muslims perform a ritual of washing the body. Without normal access to water, I can’t imagine how they do it.

Residents of Adiyaman were offered vacancies. Men can work on construction sites for a certain salary, women sort humanitarian aid, clean toilets, help in the kitchen. For example, I saw a woman who was five months pregnant cleaning toilets.

A few days before my arrival, a medical center was opened in the camp, where they provide first aid. A boy was put on a drip with me. Serious patients are likely to be sent to neighboring cities where there is a hospital. The camp residents asked us for antibiotics, apparently, they are still not enough.

Are people being fed?

– The camp is provided with hot meals. Canteens are located in separate tents. The victims were divided into groups, each with its own breakfast-lunch-dinner time. It is forbidden to take food to your tent so that rodents do not start.

Humanitarian aid is being monitored. There is no such thing anymore – a car arrives and the people take it apart themselves. The goods are documented and registered.

The camp area is also served by people who live on the street. They are forbidden to take anything out of the camp or from the premises where humanitarian aid is stored. All assistance is provided only to residents of the camp. You can’t hand out humanitarian aid on the street. You can only bring it in and drop it off. But I was allowed to give some things to the victims, who complained that they live on the street, no one helps them.

“There are queues to get a place in the campground”

– There are a lot of children in the tent camp, you need to watch them. Since heavy rains do not stop in the regions, people practically do not go out. Unless they visit each other, from one tent to another, – adds Yana. – They organized entertainment for women: they set up a tent, where they brought threads and hooks. To somehow occupy themselves, they knit, otherwise you can go crazy. The elderly feel insecure. They put on raincoats and roam the street back and forth. I saw my grandfather, who made circles around the camp.

– How do those who did not find a place in the tent city live?

– Someone settled in the car, someone occupied small ownerless houses on the outskirts of the city. Some craftsmen made themselves a shelter from improvised means. We saw non-working ATMs, to which sticks were introduced. The structure was covered with cellophane to hide from the rain.

There are a lot of people wishing to settle in the camp, people stand in line for accommodation. Someone leaves applications for the purchase of a tent. There are those who have survived the house, but people are afraid to return to the apartment. They set up a tent next to the house, protect property from marauders.

– Why don’t all these people go to other regions where they were provided with housing?

– After the earthquake, people left the affected cities, but many have already returned. For example, there are practically no refugees left in Istanbul, everyone was afraid to stay there after rumors about a possible earthquake in the capital.

Those who left for the Antalya coast are also forced to return. For a month and a half I volunteered in Kemer, I saw what was happening there. At first, hoteliers were ordered to accept people forcibly, for refusal they could lose their license. And the fact that the people need to be fed, no one thought about it.

Volunteers helped with food. Now the tourist season has begun and the refugees were asked to leave. They cannot afford to rent an apartment, the owners of the apartments keep the bar at crazy prices. In Antalya, some refugees have been accommodated in a teachers’ hostel, but the number of places is limited. There are fewer volunteers too. In Kemer, the sports complex where we collected humanitarian aid was closed. As a result, part of the refugees returned to the destroyed cities. To start life anew, you need some kind of capital. Those who have no money preferred to wait in the ruins.

Are people tired of uncertainty?

– It seems that they gave up on their lives, resigned themselves to a nightmare. Now they are all in prayer, fasting. After the flood, they were not even particularly frightened, they said, they say, we will die anyway, rather. In those regions, tremors still continue, but they are no longer responding to them. No one runs out of the tents. When it starts to shake, they freeze, and then continue to drink tea.

– How long will people live in tents, on the streets?

– Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were given a plan to disband the tent camps in Adiyaman within 15-20 days. Instead, two container camps will be built there. One will have 200,000 containers, the other will have 100,000. It is clear that the amenities are dubious, but at least four walls.

“No free housing”

– Will those who have lost their property sooner or later be given free housing?

– No free housing is allowed. Apartments will be issued under the state program, which provides for housing under an interest-free loan. That is, people who have lost everything must pay for new apartments. And we must understand that million-plus cities have been destroyed. Now it is forbidden to build high-rise buildings there, only 3-4-story buildings. So far, only the outskirts are being built up. How long it will take for the full restoration of cities, no one knows. I wouldn’t be surprised if people stay in containers for a long time.

– If people do not have money to repay the loan, what should they do?

– Probably, the state believes that the people will start to plow and earn. Even now, people who have more or less survived at home receive utility bills. Nothing will be free.

Have the victims received any compensation?

– On central television, the stars held a large fundraiser, collected a colossal amount. This money went to pay the victims. 100 thousand lira (403 thousand rubles) was paid for the deceased, 10 thousand lira (40 thousand rubles) for the rest of the victims. But not everyone has received the money yet.

By the way, with the insurance for the apartment is also a strange situation. My friend, who had an apartment of 120 sq. meters, received from the insurance company for the loss of housing only 316 lira (1270 rubles). For the loss of equipment and furniture, insurers paid 4,000 liras (16,000 rubles). Now they are provided with an apartment in a house under construction of only 80 square meters. For her, she also has to pay the loan.

– The situation is not very good for Erdogan before the elections.

– After the earthquake, people were angry with Erdogan. After all, in the same Adiyaman, help came late. Rescuers arrived in Hatay four days later. And now the president has come to the affected cities, made promises, people have calmed down. An ambiguous situation has developed in Turkey, in fact, there is no one to choose from.

After the earthquake, there were many bans on the dissemination of information about the consequences of the earthquake. Severe censorship was introduced. When I was working after the Adiyaman disaster, I was asked to give an interview on camera. I told it like it is. The story did not air.

During my work with humanitarian aid, journalists again approached me for comment. And again the criticism was cut out. Three TV channels were fined, which more or less tried to show the truth about the consequences of the earthquake. Bloggers who collected help for the victims on the Web were called to the police. So we don’t talk much here. It’s punishable…