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ADIYAMAN, Turkey - In the alleys and streets of this shattered city, one of the hardest hit in the recent earthquake in Anatolia, the cries and screams of people reach the sky. There is almost no one who has not lost a loved one in the city of Adiyaman (Semsur in Kurdish) in southeast Turkey.
The UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said that the earthquake was the worst event in 100 years, adding that the death toll could rise to above 50,000.
The women surround a fire and hold vigil as they ululate together, a sign that their grief is unbearable.The men are working with the rescue teams to save anyone that may have survived in this cold temperature five days after the earthquake hit in the early hours of Monday morning when the city was asleep.
Aynur Demir says that she has 16 members of her immediate and extended family under the rubbles.
“We are all brothers, in my family only four people have survived, the rest are gone. My brother, my nephew, my sister-in-law, our bride, all are gone,” Demir told Rudaw.
The backhoes are busy removing the rubble from the collapsed building sites. So many buildings have collapsed that it is difficult to estimate how many people have died in the quake. Turkish media has reported that over 3,100 people have died in Adiyaman alone. The death toll has reached over 28,000 people in both Turkey and northwest Syria, but many bodies are still under the rubble.
Aziz Demir looks on at the site of the collapsed building where he once called home. A backhoe is removing rubble. His grey hair speaks volumes about the life he once led in this part of the Kurdish region in southeast Turkey.
“The people who are helping here are our own people, the Kurmanj. They give us water and food and they have brought everything. There is no shortage but we have not seen any assistance from the government,” he said.
The area has suffered decades of government discrimination leaving the residents vulnerable to natural disasters. Many have complained about the lack of speedy government response which reduced the chances of survivors being pulled from under the rubble alive.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come under fierce criticism for his lukewarm response to the quake but he has threated to retaliate against those who have criticized him.
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