Turkey’s Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) did not send enough aid to the earthquake zone because many materials in its inventory had already been sent to Syria, said Turkey’s opposition İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener in a broadcast on FOX TV.
Akşener counted a series of reasons for why AFAD could not fulfil what it was supposed to do in the quake-affected cities in Turkey.
She said that the AFAD could not procure enough materials because they lacked financial resources since its budget had been transferred to other organisations.
“It is also claimed that many equipment in the AFAD inventory could not be used since they appear to be deployed to Syria. These are very serious claims,” said Akşener.
Stressing that AFAD provincial directors are not qualified, she said that only 15 of the 65 AFAD provincial directors whose CVs are available have undergraduate degrees in earth science, construction and health sciences that are directly related to search and rescue services.
Akşener added that none of these 15 provincial directors work in earthquake zones.
She also criticised the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and said that the number of soldiers deployed for rescue efforts on the second day of the Marmara earthquake was 23 times larger than soldiers deployed on the second day of the 6 February earthquake.
On Wednesday, Akşener said that “the person responsible for this disastrous outcome of the earthquakes is Mr. Erdoğan himself”.