Turkish authorities have evacuated a tent city built for 6 February earthquake victims on the banks of the Tigris River in the Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır (Amed), Amida news reported on Friday.
The decision was made after last week’s heavy rains proved the points of professional organisations which continuously pointed to the flood risk the tent city faced due to its location. The area was also criticised for being far from basic needs such as transportation and food.
The tent city accommodated 1,200 people whose houses were declared uninhabitable in Diyarbakır, where the disaster claimed the lives of 409 people.
The earthquake victims stayed for only three weeks in the tent city, for which the Turkish authorities spent at least TL 125 million [$6.5 million] according to Amida.
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır MP Hişyar Özsoy submitted a parliamentary question earlier this month to the Minister of Interior, asking why the authorities preferred this location for the tent city despite objections from non-governmental organisations and warnings about risks such as asbestos, flooding, and infectious diseases.