Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has excluded nearly all opposition parties from coordination efforts to respond to one of the most destructive earthquakes in the country’s history.
He has done this despite the fact that the earthquake hit ten provinces in south and southeast Turkey, most of which are either Kurdish majority or with large Kurdish populations, and distrust of the state is widespread.
Erdoğan on Monday made a series of calls to other political parties in Turkey, starting with his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) far-right ally, the National Movement Party (MHP). From the opposition parties that have enough seats to form parliamentary groups, Erdoğan chose to speak only to Meral Akşener, the leader of the centre-right İyi Party, excluding the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP).
The president also held phone calls with Ali Babacan, leader of the liberal-right Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), and Temel Karamollaoğlu, the leader of the Islamist Felicity Party (SP), both of which parties are members of the main opposition alliance of six parties of which the CHP is the largest consitituent.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the CHP, said on Monday that he had asked for an appointment from Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), but could not get any response. The main opposition leader then made an ad-hoc visit to the agency and had a meeting with its head, Yunus Sezer, and Turkey’s vice president, Fuat Oktay, to discuss coordination over earthquake response efforts. Kılıçdaroğlu is set to visit Adana and Hatay provinces on today.
Meanwhile, Ömer Çelik, the spokesperson of the AKP, claimed in the southern province of Adana on Monday that his party and its ally the MHP were present in the earthquake area. Çelik’s comments created an outrage on social media, which is flooded with reports from stricken areas that have seen no government help, with many condemning and shaming Çelik’s efforts to engage in politics when the country is “on fire”.
Mehmet Metiner, a former AKP lawmaker from Adıyaman, wrote on Twitter on Monday that the province was not alone and had Erdoğan’s backingo. Metiner’s Twitter post came while people from Adıyaman had been crying for help on social media, saying no rescue efforts had reached the city so far. Following another social media outrage, Metiner deleted his post.
