“Dishonourable, Disgraceful, Shameless”

On the Relationship Between the Earthquake and Politics

In this fleeting world there is nothing more valuable than human life. The scenes of destruction after the earthquake made all of us feel this truth once again, and with the force of an earthquake. Every body pulled from the heaps of rubble, which had turned into a struggle between life and death, made us forget the current death toll, if only for a moment, and lifted our hopes. Of course, not everything followed such a simplified equation.

We felt the pain of the lives lost and the dramas lived with trembling hearts. In the first hours after the earthquake, as we saw images of collapsed buildings and cities turned to ruins, we were shaken with horror, dark clouds enveloped us, and we prayed, “God, please, a miracle”, for everyone under the rubble to be rescued safe and sound. We were devastated as lifeless bodies came to light. We thanked God as we saw those rescued alive. Saying that now was not the time to complain or play politics, we began to think what we could do so that the lights of life would not go out for those under the rubble. We tried to hear the voices of those asking, “Can anyone hear us?” We ran around asking how we could help. As far as our hands could reach and our tongues could speak, we put our shoulders to this struggle for survival.

With the Friends We Call Enemies

On social media broadcasts we followed almost second by second the frantic struggle of search, rescue and aid teams formed by local governments and NGOs together with those of the state’s official bodies, volunteer citizen groups, military units, the police, village guards and other teams we have forgotten to name, to reach the living bodies under the heaps of rubble.

In a corner of our hearts we noted the professional efforts of rescue teams that reached the earthquake zone from various countries around the world, including those coming from countries we have at times declared our greatest enemies.

Once again we held on to life and hope; once again we understood that humanity is not dead and that solidarity, mutual help and love of humanity have no nationality and no race.

We will not forget the sacrifices of the rescue teams, their toil to keep one more body breathing at the risk of their own lives, the way they lifted the spirits of the people whose living bodies they reached like psychologists or educators, and the words of comfort, mostly amateurish but all heartfelt, they offered to keep up the will to live of victims under the rubble whose voices they could hear but whose bodies they could not yet touch. Let us never forget them. If we can keep this memory alive, we can also make rapid progress in the struggle to build social peace.

Dirty Politics (and Politicians)

From the very beginning, a fair system should have been set up for coordinating the components directly taking part in or contributing to the rescue work in the field, and it should have been implemented by the official authorities. From the first day we witnessed many reproaches on this point. While in one neighbourhood we saw teams working flat out, in another we saw that desolation reigned as far as official rescue efforts were concerned. And we were startled when those who voiced this distortion were met by government officials, above all President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with words unbecoming of those who govern the state, such as “dishonourable, disgraceful, shameless”, and with threats that “they will be held to account”.

We witnessed attitudes of those who present themselves as caliphs or servants of Islam that in no way accord with the warning in our holy book: “Whoever kills a soul, it is as if he had killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as if he had saved the life of all mankind.” (Al-Ma’idah 5:32) The distorted and shallow mindset of the people and institutions that took on the task of coordination in rescue work where every second counts, and of the administrators who gave them instructions, can never be accepted. Sadly, the Political Islamist mode of government embodied by the AKP imposed this mindset on society in this latest earthquake disaster.

Aid lorries sent to the disaster zone were subjected to political labelling, although this meant nothing to those in need of help. Institutional NGOs were perhaps exempted from this to some degree, but on lorries carrying aid from individuals or small businesses, banners were hung bearing the names of the ruling party or of local administrations in a way that evoked the government. Yet simply writing “earthquake aid” on the aid sent to the region would have been enough. It does not seem possible to determine how successful the sorting of this aid and its delivery to the right people in need has been. Meanwhile, in the provinces hit by the earthquake we saw looted shops and supermarkets. We saw thieves stealing aid supplies. We also saw the lack of coordination in distributing the aid that poured into the region from home and abroad. But those who pointed to those responsible for these obvious problems were instantly declared “dishonourable, disgraceful, shameless” by the government.

False Heroes

You can be sure that at the end of this process, that is, of the rescue work in the field, Erdoğan, the AKP government and the components of its administration will hide behind the stories of heroism that brought tears to our eyes, belonging to those who deserve the merit of saving all humanity by saving a single life, and will display the most cunning methods of hiding from view the negligence, faults and indifference of the 20 years they have sat in the seat of power.

They will have mevlid prayers recited for those who lost their lives, harp on about the nature of this business and fate, promise to rebuild the flattened cities, hand out cash to earthquake survivors with aid money collected from the people and with dollars whose source they will not disclose, take babies who survived the earthquake into their arms and cuddle them, display every kind of hypocrisy to look charming to the people, lie in their palaces without blushing and without caring about their mistakes, faults and crimes, and give speeches in election squares.

These things are not acceptable. It is clear that the government will not hesitate to use, with a voracious appetite, all the state resources and media power at its disposal to cover up its incompetence in managing the disaster. Against this, the political and social opposition must stand shoulder to shoulder. Those who have drifted away from the AKP line, who rebel against all these negative developments and who now share ideas and cooperate, must bring the government into line as soon as possible. And then, at the first legitimate opportunity, the government must be voted out at the ballot box.

If anyone knows another way, please tell us.