‘Everyone is gone,’ laments Kurdish grandmother in quake-hit Adiyaman

ADIYAMAN, Turkey - As thousands lay dead in Turkey’s Adiyaman (Semsur in Kurdish) following the disastrous earthquakes, a Kurdish grandmother laments the loss of her loved ones to Rudaw.

Destructive twin earthquakes shook ten provinces in Turkey, leading to the collapse of thousands of buildings and the death of over 31,000 people across the country.

Mihemed Kamaran has lost many members of his family and now stays with his grandmother.
“We fell down and something hit my head,” he told Rudaw’s Rawin Sterk, “then, I got in the car and headed to school [where victims were gathered].”

“Half of our family is gone, everyone is gone and no one is left,” said Bese Kamaran, Mihemed’s grandmother, “his [Mihemed’s] mother and three of her children were gone.” 

Most of those affected by the earthquake in Adiyaman province saw their houses collapsing in front of their eyes.

“We rushed out and started a fire [to warm up] while our house collapsed,” said Khezal Gunlican, one of those wounded in the earthquake.

A disastrous 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Kahramanmaras in southern Turkey last week, with its impact also ripping through Syria.

Kahramanmaras, the tremor epicenter, and Adiyaman respectively have borne the brunt of the powerful earthquakes in Turkey.

Over 35,000 people have been killed in both countries due to the quake as of Sunday evening.

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.

Turkish 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.