Thousands of Twitter users from Turkey have been using the #benidenotedin (#notemetoo) hashtag since Friday to show their outrage against a statement made by a senior member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“Since we are in the disaster region with our citizens, we have not been a part of political discussions. We are at the moment just noting this said against our president and against us,” said Ömer Çelik, the spokesperson of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on 15 February, before a meeting of the party’s executive board.
In his speech, Çelik targeted the media and opposition parties who have been criticising the government’s failure in organising disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of the twin earthquakes on 6 February that massively destroyed 11 provinces in the country’s south, causing the death of almost 40,000 people, latest figures show.
Çelik was repeating the exact words used by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a day before.
“We are at the moment only taking note of those who have displayed all types of filthiness, from abusing the sentiments of people whose hearts have been burning to racism, as well as defamation and disinformation to reduce the value of the work being carried out devotedly,” Erdoğan said, pointing to opposition parties and journalists.
“Due to our respect for our nation and the requirements of the position I currently represent, we will of course not forgive those who are seeking political gains from the earthquake disaster but we will also not go down to their level,” Erdoğan added.
Many in Turkey, including journalists and politicians of the opposition parties, saw the statements of Çelik and Erdoğan as threats, heralding a new wave of government crackdown.
“And we are noting the names of those who lost their lives,” said journalist Deniz Zeyrek in response to Çelik’s comments. “We are noting the buildings that collapsed, we are noting the names of the contractors who had built those coffins, we are noting those who prepared construction permit reports without inspections. There are lots of things for us to take note of. And we are noting all of them. We will gather them in one file and submit it to the judiciary,” he added.
“You and your president have also been noted. You will be held in account when you will find yourself in the rubbish of politics,” said Ahmet Şık, a lawmaker of the Turkey’s Workers’ Party (TİP).
“Those in the palace have still not understood the mood we are in,” said Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). “They say they have been noting! What happens when you note. You still have not understood, we are all ready to get arrested. Note this carefully. Did you? Now, note once more! I will not advise you to taunt our nation,” he added.
Ahmet Türk, a veteran Kurdish politician of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), also condemned Relic’s comments.
“Today we are facing a mentality that threatens civil society organisations, those who are in dialogue with the people. The other day the AKP spokesperson said ‘we are noting everything’, he is threatening the people, we are facing a state that threatens even those who only want to save their lives,” Türk said, when visiting earthquake victims in the southeastern province of Urfa.
Meanwhile, Caner Cindoruk, a popular actor, has been targeted by the pro-government media for reacting to Çelik.
“What have you been noting my fellow townsman? You have been ignoring the sufferings of the people, you have been responding to their rage with rage by shaking your finger against then, by using slurs,” Cindoruk wrote on Twitter about Çelik, who is from the southern Turkish province of Adana, as is Cindoruk.
As reactions to Çelik mounted, people on Twitter started using the hashtag #notemetoo in their posts related to the earthquake and in criticism of the government. Tens of thousands of posts have been shared on Twitter since Friday using the same hashtag.
