A proposal put forth by the People's Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP) to establish a commission in the parliament to find the bodies of those who perished beneath the rubble in the earthquake has been voted down with the support of the ruling AKP and their nationalist ally MHP.
The research proposal submitted by HEDEP on finding the citizens who disappeared after the February earthquakes centered in Maraş was discussed in the General Assembly yesterday.
HEDEP Member of Parliament Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, speaking during the session on the proposal, reminded everyone of the thousands of citizens who lost their lives in the earthquake. Referring to the bodies that remain undiscovered under the rubble, Gergerlioğlu said, "In Hatay, the bodies of a thousand individuals remain unreachable. This is a very dire situation. People want to at least visit the graves of their deceased loved ones and say their prayers, but there are no graves, no bodies. They go to the authorities, ask questions, but there are no answers. Where have these bodies gone? Have they evaporated? No, most likely, they have ended up among the rubble of that city. So, what will happen next? Will this issue be left unresolved?
"A commission must be established for finding the missing citizens of the February 6th earthquake. Thousands of families are in great distress, and this commission must be formed as soon as possible. The missing individuals need to be found, returned to their families, identified, and DNA matching must be carried out for those who lost their lives."
The earthquakes, measuring 7.8 and 7.5, centered in Maraş, caused the death of over 50,000 people in 11 cities, according to official statistics. However, the last update on the death toll was made in April, and it is reported that thousands of people are still missing.
Approaching winter
Saadet Party Member of Parliament Şerafettin Kılıç, speaking on the proposal, also pointed out that thousands of citizens are still living in tents. Kılıç highlighted the infrastructure, drinking water, and hygiene problems in the earthquake-affected areas and continued his speech:
"With the onset of colder weather, if the hygiene issue is not urgently resolved - I regret to say that - epidemic diseases may arise. The summer was a significant opportunity to address the needs in the earthquake-affected region, but instead of seizing it, efforts were made to create certain perceptions. We do not accept solving problems through perception rather than addressing the root causes. The fact remains: doing the work is one thing, producing empty words is another." (TY/VK)
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