Global Courant 2023-05-13 15:44:00
ANTAKYA, Turkey — At a bus station in Antakya, a city razed to the ground by Turkey’s devastating earthquake, emotions remain raw and voters are divided ahead of Sunday’s crucial elections.
The Yener family building partially collapsed during the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in February, which killed more than 50,000 people and sparked anger over the delayed rescue and recovery efforts of the government.
Like many others who had to flee their homes in this ancient cradle of civilizations near the Syrian border, they returned to take part in Turkey’s biggest vote of modern times.
Mr Metin Yener and his wife Zubeyde will vote for Mr Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the secular rival of long-serving Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamic-rooted government is fighting for its political life.
“These elections are important. We have hope,” Mr. Yener said with a smile as his family waited at the station after braving a five-hour bus journey.
In his tiny store full of water bottles, chip bags and batteries sold to time-pressed travelers, shopkeeper Mithat can’t wait to have his say in the presidential and legislative polls.
“During the earthquake, the state failed us. In the first three days, no one came to our aid,” said the 55-year-old, who withheld his last name for fear of getting into trouble.
Mithat also refused to reveal his voting preference, wanting to keep it a secret. “But I will vote with my conscience,” he said.
‘A little bit of hope’
Mr Serdal Anil has no qualms about openly expressing his support for Mr Kilicdaroglu, leader of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) and head of a six-party opposition alliance seeking to end more than two decades of Erdogan rule .
The 21-year-old has been living in a tent with his parents for three months and laments how tough life has become since the earthquake and an economic crisis that experts say has been exacerbated by Erdogan’s unorthodox policies.
With the situation becoming increasingly difficult and snakes trying to sneak into his makeshift shelter, Mr. Anil has no fear that a change of leadership will hinder the massive reconstruction.
“Both (candidates) can do it. They are the state,” he said.
A little further on, the CHP has set up its provincial leadership under four large tents along a major road. The headquarters was also not spared by the earthquake.
Mr. Hakan Tiryaki, CHP president of Hatay province, of which Antakya is the capital, said that “a change of government is the only glimmer of hope” the residents have, despite Erdogan’s promises of speedy reconstruction.
