CHP leader Özel criticizes the government over 'earthquake tax' and 'TSK': 'They were absent for exactly 3 days'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, İBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and Hatay Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Lütfü Savaş attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Kırıkhan, Hatay, which was damaged in the earthquake and whose reconstruction was undertaken by the İBB subsidiary KİPTAŞ.

"WE, THE ADMINISTRATORS AND POLITICIANS, ARE THE ONES WHO SHOULD LEARN THE MOST FROM FEBRUARY 6"

Speaking at the ceremony, İmamoğlu said the following:

"February 6 is perhaps one of the most painful days in our country's history. We know it is one of those days that will never be forgotten. If even a single citizen in the earthquake zone feels forgotten, we as a nation should be ashamed.

Coming here 1 year later, we are striving to share the deep pain.

There are indeed citizens who feel they have been forgotten and that they have not seen the state by their side enough. This is especially true for our fellow citizens and friends in Hatay who have been voicing these cries since February 6. Turning a deaf ear to this or interpreting it differently does not suit any public administrator, me, or us. We are the people sitting in those seats who should bow our heads and question how we ended up in this situation.

We, the administrators and politicians, are the ones who should learn the most from February 6.

It is not the place of any administrator to question our citizens instead of understanding them. Politics is a duty we must perform so that no one dies in earthquakes.

Politics is not done to defeat political rivals. It is a duty that must be performed to overcome difficulties. Everyone was struggling to lend a hand.

Since we were assigned to Hatay by AFAD on the morning of February 6, we have continued to work to fulfill our responsibility on behalf of our 16 million Istanbulites. We never did this on behalf of an individual or a party, and we do not define it as such.

We came here to convey the friendship of 90 thousand İBB employees. We are inaugurating the Kırıkhan Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School. Our youth will be prepared for the future here. We will finish the school as soon as possible.

I would like to say that we have also undertaken the construction of the Gazi Anatolian High School and are about to finish it.

Hatay is a geography of people who have always remained standing. The beautiful people of this region know how to turn pain into honey, how to rebuild life, and how to uphold their humanity under any circumstances. It is our duty, regardless of our position or office, to do our best to make Hatay exist, to grow it, and to address all its shortcomings. As long as we think together. Let us be one in times of disaster.

CHP leader Özgür Özel said the following:

February 6 is one of the greatest pains experienced in the history of the Republic of Turkey. We lost 50 thousand 783 of our lives. Just as we rushed here when we received the news 1 year ago, we are here today as well.

The first message we sent to our 130 deputies serving in the 27th Term was 'go to the earthquake zone.' I thank all our deputies for their efforts here. All of our 28th-term deputies are also in the earthquake zone. CHP organizations in 81 provinces held a moment of silence. From the very first day, we refrained from exploiting this issue by bringing it into the political agenda. Of course, the loss of life in the earthquake is political. Politics is a matter of setting priorities.

"THEY ISSUED 8 ZONING AMNESTIES"

Do you use your priority to transfer the rent of a city, or do you use it to make that city resilient to disasters? But within daily politics, while our loved ones were under the rubble and search and rescue efforts were still ongoing everywhere, we did not make this a part of hot politics. However, 2 days after the earthquake, the President said, 'Let no one worry, the need for earthquake housing is over 600 thousand, we will deliver them all within 1 year,' showing both his intention to convert state power into the interests of a party and his intention by showing the state's power differently when it existed. What kind of government was ruling the country that day? They had been ruling for 21 years, they had the majority in parliament, they had completed their staffing, and they had come to power by making the most ruthless criticisms against the great earthquake in 1999, saying there were still no tents on the 3rd day of the earthquake, and by showing the cause of that earthquake as the government.

They had collected 3 times all the taxes collected in the history of the Republic. They had collected 40 billion dollars in earthquake taxes with the SCT (Special Consumption Tax). They had been in power for 21 years and had an incredible amount of resources at their disposal. They started by buttoning the first button of the shirt wrong. Instead of resilient cities, they spent the resources elsewhere and issued 8 zoning amnesties. They boasted about 26 billion liras, but it turned out that they didn't even spend that for the earthquake.

"THE ARMED FORCES WERE ABSENT FOR 3 DAYS"

3 days were days of great lack of coordination, panic, and wrong decisions. All municipalities took to the roads. Things that could be done were delayed so that there wouldn't be an image that the government couldn't do it but the municipalities could. The first thing that came to mind, the Armed Forces, which were ready to take the field in minutes, were absent for 3 days. We learned later that some people thought, 'It's easy to take them out, it's hard to put them back in.' We were facing a government that deprived this country of the most precious 72 hours.

People were miserable, crying for tents; there were no tents, but we learned that the Red Crescent (Kızılay) was selling tents. While everyone was waiting for help, they even sent IBAN numbers to the phones of earthquake victims. Solidarity would have been organized when the day came, of course, but we experienced a very arrogant act. While we were dealing with the facts, some were dealing with perception. By the 4th or 5th day of the earthquake, they had already filmed the 'disaster of the century' movie.

They promised 650 thousand houses. When March 15 arrived, he said I will deliver 319 thousand of them at the end of 1 year. Today, 1 year has passed, and 18 thousand 19 houses have been delivered. The number of houses delivered today is 2.7 percent of the total need. 95 out of 100 earthquake victims are either in containers or in tents.

News Source: 12punto