AMED - Ceylan Palamut, who is at the crisis desk of Diyarbakir City Protection and Solidarity Platform, stated that they are working nonstop and said, “There are children, there are old people, there are women. Their basic needs are heating, nutrition, hygiene kits and food.”

 

With the effect of two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 that occurred in the Bazarcix district of Mereş on February 6, while devastation occurred in Amed, more than 100 people lost their lives and hundreds were injured. While the state did not take any precautions regarding the public in all earthquake cities, non-governmental organizations took the initiative and set up crisis desks. One of these crisis desks was established by Diyarbakır City Protection and Solidarity Platform. From the first hours of the earthquake, the crisis desk carried out studies on the needs and deficiencies of the people.

 

'We have created a crisis network for children'

 

 Stating that they went to the areas where the collapses took place, Ceylan noted that they visited the relatives of the survivors and they were working on who was in the collapse. Afterwards, Ceylan stated that they evaluated what they did during the day, “After what happened during the day, we decided to create a child rights crisis network. However, we worked with our friends until the morning. In the late hours of the night, the textile city and factories opened their doors to the public. offered their support. They provided food and blankets. We took those who were left outside due to the earthquake and settled them. "It takes a while to do these things in times of earthquakes, but we made our plans by saying how to do it the fastest” she said.

 

'There are serious shortcomings'

 

 Sharing her observations on the day of the earthquake, Ceylan added, “When we looked at the dent areas, we saw that there was a dent problem in the environment. There was an irregularity such as crowding people in the collapsed area and closing the ambulance passageways. We were on the field during the earthquake that happened for the second time on the same day, and there were people who fell during that time, there was a crushing issue, there was a very serious deficiency in terms of coordination. Yes, there may be fewer buildings destroyed compared to other cities, but this is a serious situation for the region. There are those who lost their lives, there are still those who cannot be pulled out from under the rubble. There is slow progress due to weather conditions or lack of human resource support. In particular, Maraş, Hatay, Antakya, Adıyaman are places where there is much more trouble and serious disability. We also see on television that there is a problem of transportation, search and rescue, and AFAD.”

 

Emphasis on those with special needs

 

Lastly, Ceylan touched upon the individuals with special needs who are in the most disadvantaged situations : “There are children, the elderly and women. Their basic needs are heating, nutrition, hygiene kits and food. We received such a call during the day; My wife just gave birth, she couldn't eat anything hungry, so she can't breastfeed the child and the baby is crying because of hunger. No diapers. There is a serious lack of basic needs.”