Controversial post by Osmaniye Mayor İbrahim Çenet: He ignored the pain of the earthquake

Thousands of people who lost their lives in the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes on February 6, 2023, were commemorated across the country on the first anniversary of the disaster. In Osmaniye, however, this significant day became the subject of political controversy.

CELEBRATION ON A DAY OF COMMEMORATION

A social media post made by Osmaniye Mayor İbrahim Çenet ahead of a commemoration event to be attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli drew backlash.

Mayor Çenet's call, which included the phrases "Today is your holiday, Osmaniye, put on your holiday clothes and come" and "Today we were as joyful as a thousand horsemen. Thank you, Osmaniye," resonated widely on social media and throughout the city. The posts particularly disturbed families who lost loved ones in the earthquake and other city residents.

REACTIONS CAME ONE AFTER ANOTHER

CHP Osmaniye Deputy and Women's Branch Chairwoman Asu Kaya was among those who expressed their reaction. Criticizing the call for a "holiday" in Osmaniye, where over a thousand people lost their lives, Kaya stated the following:

"Imagine a mayor... The mayor of a city that lost 1,010 of its fellow citizens on February 6. Tens of thousands of injured, a city leveled to the ground, a grief that still has not subsided...

People who passed away while waiting under the rubble asking 'where is the state'... And on the anniversary of this indescribable pain, just because the chairmen of the People's Alliance are coming, he can come out and say, 'Today is your holiday, Osmaniye; put on your holiday clothes and come.'

This is not a gaffe. This is not thoughtlessness. This is pure heartlessness. This city is not in a holiday mood. This city is still mourning. This city is still waiting for accountability.

In these lands where a call for holiday clothes is made; mothers are without children, children are orphans, and cemeteries are full!

Be ashamed, at least a little, of this mentality that turns the anniversary of pain into a show, mourning into propaganda, and the rubble into a political showcase.

What a pity. What a shame. What Osmaniye needs is not holiday clothes; it is justice, responsibility, and conscience, Mr. Mayor!"

As criticism of the MHP mayor's call mounted, many citizens living in the city shared similar sentiments on social media. The people of Osmaniye, who still commemorate their losses with fresh pain, reacted to the politicization of the commemoration day and the ignoring of their suffering.

News Source: 12punto