Paylaş
Selahattin Kaban, President of the Association of Earthquake Victims and Relatives of the Missing (DEMAK), said, “I am calling out to all relatives of the missing: this association is your home, your mother, your father, your children, your grandchildren, your siblings.”
“We will not lose hope”
According to the information you have received, how many people are missing in the February 6 earthquake, and how many of them are children?
We have 145 missing people who have reached us since the February 6 earthquake, 38 of whom are children.
While the Minister of Family and Social Assistance said there were no “missing children,” you said there were 38 missing children. What are your views on this?
I’m calling out to the Minister through you: I invite him to accept the appointment we’ve requested so we can meet. Let’s prove to him, one-on-one, that we have missing children.
Is the association only active in Hatay or in other earthquake-affected provinces? Are there applications from other provinces?
We also have losses in the provinces of Hatay, Maraş, Gaziantep, Malatya, and Adıyaman. Because these five provinces have the highest losses, we are conducting operations in these provinces.
Who have you contacted regarding this issue so far? Can you tell us about the process?
We met with the members of parliament for Hatay and Maraş. We met with the Deva Party and requested an appointment with the Ministry. They haven’t yet responded to our request. When we met with the Hatay members of parliament, we requested the establishment of an investigative committee. The motion submitted by the CHP, İYİ PARTY, and DEM Party was rejected by the AKP and MHP.
According to the law, a declaration of absence will be issued for missing persons after one year. What will you do as an association after this decision?
Of course, we will not accept this. What cannot be found is a human being. We will raise the necessary objections with our families.
What will you do from now on?
They buried us under the rubble again and again. We, the association’s management and the families of the missing, will rise from that rubble once again. We will search tirelessly for our missing. But we will unite, together. Even if families lose hope, we will search for those we loved in their stead. Let them know that we will not give up. My homeland, my city, is gone. My siblings, my mothers, my fathers, are gone. I am ready to do anything for them.
I urge them to never give up. And as an association, we will do everything we can to find our missing loved ones.
I call out to all relatives of the missing, this association is your home, your mother, your father, your children, your grandchildren, your siblings.
We will find these losses when we stand together in unity and solidarity. We cannot do anything individually. Let’s not give up hope, for we will lose it when it’s gone.
Gülbin ÇAKMAK
