Stop power cuts in Mardin!

Power is out in Mardin very often. No matter winter or summer, it is sometimes not back on for hours and hours. And people really panic when power is out. Because they are afraid that they cannot meet their needs.

Liyan Demirel

* Image by Liyan Demirel (Put an end to power cuts!)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Hello, I am Liyan Demirel. Today, I will talk about the day-long power cuts in [Turkey's southeastern province of] Mardin. Power is out in Mardin very often. No matter winter or summer, it is sometimes not back on for hours and hours. People obviously complain about it.

First, we will talk to my aunt Xurşide Demirel. Let's call her. By the way, read the letter "X" [in Kurdish] as if you read "H" [in Turkish]. Enjoy...

Liyan: First question... How do you feel when power is out?

Xurşide: In this summer's heat, the power is sometimes out for two or four hours. As the weather is really hot here, we get exhausted from the heat, we feel terrible.

Liyan: What do you do then?

Xurşide: We open the door and windows to cool off a bit. But as it is very hot, it is to no avail. The weather outside is even hotter.

Liyan: Is there anything else you do?

Xurşide: Sometimes, when we find a shade, we try to cool off there.

Liyan: Does it work?

Xurşide: Not really...

As far as I remember, the last time when I was in Mardin, it was what happened: I think my grandfather ordered us some lahmajun [a type of thin pizza with minced meat filling]. But, then, the power was out. So, instead of a heater core, we used a gas stove to get warm. And people really panicked when power was out.

Because they were afraid that they would not meet their needs or would get sick as the weather was cold. Both their refrigerators and the things they had to keep in there went off. I saw that people had so much trouble especially when the power was out in the evenings.

We will now talk to Hanife Sertkaya, who lives in Kızıltepe district:

Liyan: How do you hold up in winter?

Hanife: We wait for the power to be back on again. We use a wood burning stove to get warm.

Liyan: But, does it work?

Hanife: It does work to get us warm. But it is difficult to be in the dark.

Liyan: And what do you do about the dark?

Hanife: We burn candles. It is of course really bad to stay in the dark.

Good bye. I wish the power would not be cut in Mardin anymore. (LD/RT/SD)