#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #UK #TURKEY #SYRIA #ANARCHISM #LIBRARY #News #Journal #Update - (en) #UK, ACG: The earthquake in Syria and Turkey (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Two earthquakes hit south east Turkey and north west Syria on February 6th, as

many will know, causing the deaths of at least 44,000 according to latest
figures, but with the likely final figure being as high as 100,000. ---- The
earthquake affected seven provinces in Turkey and encompassed an area of 150
kilometres with a population of 13 million. The earthquake triggered landslides,
rockfalls and the collapse of many buildings. It hit railway lines, airports,
highways and bridges, as well as affecting energy and communication lines. Both
the Assad regime in Syria and the Erdoğan regime in Turkey have given the go
ahead to construction companies to build flimsy buildings where the population is
packed together, despite the area being well known as having a high risk of
earthquakes. In 1999 whole streets and indeed whole towns and villages were
demolished in the quakes.

Many died instantly, and many who were buried alive died of their injuries,
hunger and thirst. The situation was aggravated by a severe winter storm.

The Erdoğan regime failed to act for two days, thanks to bureaucratic nature of
the administration. The Army was mobilised but problems of communication hindered
their operation, as it did the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority,
controlled by Erdoğan's sidekicks. At the same time there was a clampdown on
anarchist and left groups organising their own aid to the victims, alongside a
propaganda campaign via the state-controlled media to show how effective the
regime was in handling the crisis. There was also a clamp down on social media,
using the excuse that negative propaganda was being disseminated. This at a time
when people buried beneath the rubble were attempting to use social media and the
internet to attempt to communicate with rescue teams.

Any independent grassroots aid and that organised by local municipalities has
been shut down and only action organised by the Disaster and Emergency Management
Authority was permitted.

Erdoğan then announced a state of emergency for the quake stricken regime on
February 8th, using the flimsy excuses of looting and lawlessness.

The Army and security forces have arrested people taking stuff from empty
buildings, handing out severe beatings resulting in the death of at least one
man. In this they have been assisted by right wing militias.

After the deaths of over 18,000 in quakes in the 1990s, new policies were
introduced to demolish unsafe buildings and replace them with quake-proof
architecture. However, the State turned a blind eye to the flouting of these new
regulations by property developers. A boom in investing in property enabled this.
Many buildings were constructed with shoddy materials and people were packed into
high rise structures. For a fee to the government, contractors and developers
received exemptions for their building programmes. 75,000 exemptions were granted!

The situation was even worse in Syria. The are is controlled by various rebel
forces and the Syrian government failed to provide aid to the region. Both the
Assad regime and its backers in the Russian government limited access to aid
organisations across the border in Turkey. Eventually, the Assad regime was
pressured to temporarily allow access to international aid organisations.

Assad will manipulate aid and assistance to make sure that the areas held by
opposition forces are deprived of such help. In this he is being enabled by the
Putin regime.

We publish below the statement of various anarchist groups in different cities in
Turkey.

The following is syndicated from yeryuzupostasi.org.

On February 6th, anarchists from different cities issued a joint declaration on
the aftermath of the earthquake. Here is their full statement as published on the
social media account Sandıkta Çözülmez (Unsolvable at the Ballot Box):

Let's build solidarity and the struggle against this order

On February 6, we were shaken by two earthquakes, one at 4:17 a.m. in Pazarcık
district of Maraş with a magnitude of 7.7 and the other at 1:24 p.m. in Elbistan
district of Maraş with a magnitude of 7.6. Even according to official statements,
we are already facing a disaster in which thousands of people have lost their
lives, thousands have been injured and hundreds of thousands of people have been
directly affected.

Although earthquakes are natural events, what happens next is beyond an
inevitable "natural" disaster. First of all, it should be emphasized that the
centralization, dense urbanisation and metropolitanisation caused by capitalism
lie at the root of why earthquakes are so destructive. However, this earthquake
has once again revealed the consequences of capitalist development in Turkey in
recent years being based on real estate, rent and plunder.

Despite warnings from scientists for years, despite the fact that it was known
that there would be a major earthquake in that region in the near future and what
should be done, the fact that nothing was done, and the continuation of
uncontrolled and unplanned construction despite the so-called earthquake laws,
invited this disaster. Hospitals, police stations and buildings even a few years
old were destroyed, roads and bridges were rendered unusable.

The disaster was compounded by the "performance" of the state after the
earthquake. Although the first day was very critical, the state did not use a
significant part of its means. The much-vaunted massive militarist apparatus did
not act when people's lives were at stake; search and rescue teams and aid could
not reach many places even after hours.

While the state did not mobilise its power, the natural feelings of solidarity
that we know very well exist among the workers, the oppressed and the peoples
were roused. Thousands of people mobilised with their own resources to rescue
people under the debris and to show solidarity with the earthquake victims. In a
very short time, an enormous mobilisation of social solidarity began all over the
country.

While people were struggling for their lives, the government again resorted to
the usual methods to absolve itself of responsibility. Along with the discourse
that Turkey is an earthquake zone and that these disasters are almost fate, a
representation of "national mourning" was put on stage, embellished with the
reading of the sala from mosques and the calling of those who lost their lives as
"martyrs". Again, they try to conceal the interests of the ruling classes behind
nationalism.

On the other hand, the contractors who built buildings with bad materials in
unsuitable places, the opportunists who hid basic necessities and sold them at
exorbitant prices, and those who did not see that this system stole our lives,
did not hesitate to accuse the earthquake victims of thievery and looting because
they took the food and rescue materials they needed. Some fascists, trying to
cover up what the state did and did not do, were not even ashamed to openly
suggest that "soldiers should be ordered to open fire on looters".

Hidden in this shamelessness is the fact that the main duty of the state is not
to protect people's lives, but to defend the interests of capital and their own
power at all costs.

Capitalism has once again killed us horribly and massively. Capitalist barbarism
and those who benefit from this order, all capitalists who feed directly or
indirectly from construction rent, all central governments and local
administrations that have so far pursued policies based on construction rent and
the plunder of cities- in other words all parties and politicians of order- are
responsible for this mass murder. Today we have been deeply wounded. We, as
millions of workers and oppressed, will heal our wounds by building solidarity.
But we call out to the actors of that politics of order: we will never forget
what you have done and what you have not done. We have lost friends, families,
loved ones, but we do not mourn. We feel anger, we hold grudges.

A free world will blossom in our anger.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2023/02/19/the-earthquake-in-syria-and-turkey/
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