The death toll from the earthquake in Syria and Turkey will surely exceed 50,000. United Nations emergency coordinator Martin Griffiths tells Sky News. Turkey correspondent Joost Lagendijk fears he is right: “The official death toll does not include people in remote villages who have already buried their dead. Probably tens of thousands of people are still under the rubble.”
Meanwhile, prime contractors in Turkey have been arrested for delivering faulty new construction. “More than a hundred have been charged, twenty to twenty-five have already been arrested.” Lagendijk rightly says they are being held accountable, but adds that they are just one link in a chain of municipalities and the inspectorate “which hasn’t paid much attention”.
Building amnesty
According to Lagendijk, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is also to blame. “In recent years he has repeatedly announced a so-called building amnesty. People had built a house or had one built, and not according to the rules. They received approval after paying a small amount. Hundreds of thousands of houses have been built in this way with state consent, many of which have collapsed.
Particularly damaging to Erdogan is a 2019 viral video showing him touring the region and applauding himself for granting the amnesty. Lagendijk does not know if this will hurt the prime minister in the next election. Not even if those elections go ahead.
Elections
‘Whether the election will be held in June is a question mark. Millions of Turks are not at home and cannot vote, the question is whether this will be the case in a few months. And suppose they continue, it remains to be seen whether this will backfire against Erdogan. The opposition is very angry, Erdogan and his government are doing their best to show they can do it. The question is whether this will have a positive or negative effect, but he’s having a tough time, partly because of the movies.’
There are also many criticisms of the slow start of aid. Particularly outside the cities, there are areas where there has been no help for days and where people have had to pull the victims out of the rubble by hand.
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
