Pro-gov’t columnist criticizing state over late response to quake goes viral

The video of pro-government columnist Yusuf Kaplan pointing out the late response of the state to the Feb. 6 earthquakes has gone viral on social media. In a Youtube video dated-Feb. 17, Kaplan says quake-victims “are miserable, they don’t even have tents yet.”

Thursday March 02 2023 05:36 pm

Duvar English

The video of pro-government columnist for Yeni Şafak newspaper Yusuf Kaplan’s remarks criticizing the state’s failure to take timely action to the Feb. 6 earthquakes has gone viral on social media.

In a Youtube video dated-Feb. 17, Kaplan says “(Quake-victims) don’t even have tents yet. It's been seven days, the tent hasn't gone, people are freezing from the cold.”

Kaplan’s remarks came after the moderator of the program, Serdar Tuncer, said “It is winter, there are 10 provinces, but there is a state that can fully control the situation from the 2nd day.”

In response, Kaplan said “No, what are you saying? There is no state there yet. People are miserable. They don’t even have tents yet. It's been seven days, the tents haven't gone, people are freezing from the cold. There are no tents anywhere.”

The Turkish government has endured a wave of criticism over both its response to the devastation and what many Turks say were years of non-enforcement of construction quality control.

The opposition says that a more adequate and early response to the Feb. 6 quakes would save thousands of lives.

As of March 2, at least 45,089 people died due to the quakes according to official figures. Some opposition figures claim the death toll is much higher than announced.

Topics Yusuf Kaplan Earthquake AKP state