By Ali Cevahir in Istanbul
After the earthquake in the south east region of Turkey the first measure taken by the President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was sort of religious. Sala, which is a kind of hymn for paying tribute especially to the prophet Muhammed and others in general, is now being recited to people all around Turkey.
Originally, like almost everything on religious issues, Sala was invented by the later traditions of Islam. There is no indication of whether it was even virtually put into practice at any time during the period of caliphs; nor was it put into practice in mosques for centuries. Even the official statement of Presidency of Religious Affairs, Diyanet, seemed to acknowledge that it is more likely to be a “cultural” tradition mostly observed after a death.
Sadly, people under the ruins of earthquake waiting to be rescued are forced to listen to their own funeral hymn, and this is not a metaphor but a sad reality. What is more interesting is that the word Sala stems from the Hebrew word Selah, which means “to pause to reflect on what was said” or “praise”. Now what is being asked from people waiting under damaged buildings is practically to “stop and listen” to the cries of people dying.
Restriction of Twitter to limit the circulation of real news
The second measure Erdoğan took was to restrict Twitter. And the third was to declare a state of emergency in the region. Restrictions on Twitter streams was not a big surprise in terms of governmental preemptive cautions. Thanks to social media, people in other parts of the country were witnessing how desperate the situation was and how insufficient the so-called almighty state was.
On the other hand, grass root organisations and people in general automatically started organising and building up their own support groups to deliver vital materials like blankets, nappies, heaters, medical equipment, supplies etc.
By declaring a state of emergency, the regime is trying to restore its corrupted image. By doing so, it can appropriate all the supporting material delivered to the region and under the guise of ‘advanced central administration’ they can show off how strong the state is. Currently, the social media news prove that they are striving to take over the distribution of materials by stopping trucks on the way to the stricken area and putting the logo of the AKP, Erdoğan’s political party, on them. There are aslo claims that the budget of the Ministry of Interior for disaster and emergency relief is being used as a slush fund for the regime.
Furthermore, there are claims that the official rescue teams that work hand in hand with the government media are intervening on the scene of the disaster whenever a different civil rescue team finds someone alive under the ruins. They set the scene for broadcasting, then the crocodile tears and the show begins. In short, the mainstream media is on air making people ready for miracles under the ruins. Right now, even the hopes and emotions of people are being abused by the gatekeepers of the mainstream media.
Cheap building materials used in construction
Vanity and arrogance are two sides of the same coin. It best explains the nature of the current regime in Turkey. Ali Ağaoğlu, one of the richest contractors in Turkey, once confessed that all the investment corporations in the construction business were drawing the sand for constructions from the sea and buying structural steel from scrap iron. Ağaoğlu is a well-known figure and actually a symbolic one, who can tell us a lot about the neoliberal authoritarian character of the system in Turkey.
In one of his interviews on BBC, he was calling his mistresses as his “properties.” This is not an exception, but a rule, that demonstrates the core idea behind the construction corporations specifically, and the regime in general. Even a small retrospective inquiry might reveal that it in many cases. After 301 people were killed following a mine explosion in Soma, Erdoğan called those sort of events as “destiny”, while his consultant Yusuf Yerkel was kicking the relatives of miners who were protesting against the government on the streets.
In another example from 2014, there was a the between the religious sects of Fetullah Gülen’s Nur Movement (now being called a terrorist organization, which has always-already been true) and Naqshbandi. Audio tapes were broadcast and in one of them, you could have heard that the owner of the biggest construction corporation, called Cengiz Holding was swearing to people in Turkey: “I’m gonna f… them all”.
Also in 2014, there had been a zoning amnesty covering the ten cities which were drastically affected by the present earthquake. Nearly 300,000 buildings were legally confirmed as ‘safe’, which was not true. The motive behind that declaration was to win the local elections at that time.
Wildcat strikes all over the country
Despite all these, and all the other weakness that the fragmented character of production brings about, people are very active in terms of protest, anger and organisation. During and after the pandemic, there were thousands of small wildcat strikes all over the country. The spontaneous and flash movements are viral, but they are not strong enough to build lasting ties and long-term organisations at the moment. People who are lucky enough to survive the pandemic and the earthquake are still stuck under the weight of high and rising inflation.
Unfortunagtely, the opposition does still not have a common ground other than being against Erdoğan. They also have a consensus to bring back the old parliamentary system and adapt laws to be in accord with EU laws.
No one raises any objection that this regime should be overthrown. Bearing that in mind, the socialists and communists insist on a presidential candidate in the forthcoming election to whom they could give support. The main opposition, which includes six main parties, have certain right-wing tendencies and tone, and they are basically in favor of neoliberal policies. What they object is “the corrupted government and business world” although that is not a mystery for people anymore.
Thus, they claim to want to ‘restore’ the system, restructure the economy based on IMF and World Bank policies and bring representative democracy back. However, there are still challenging topics within the opposition, such as peace negotiations with the Kurdish movement, the dirction of economy, the role of the army and the police.
The earthquake-stricken area is historically part of Kurdistan
From the point of view of a socialist policy, there are serious doubts and objections to opposition parties. For instance, the Lyi Party (liquidated opposition from Nationalist Movement Party – MHP) has been disputing the control of the Ministry of the Interior, which would determine the direction of peace negotiations, and also the structure of the state bureaucracy.
Another point that seems to bring the all the parties (except socialists) together, is the discussion around Türkiyem (“My Beloved Turkey”). Despite the fact that all the parties within the parliament signed a common declaration (including the HDP) after the earthquake, no one seemed to notice that the region was historically part of Kurdistan. The reason I raise this is to highlight how this region has been systemically and historically exploited and colonised, both by the Turkish capitalist class and the multinational corporations like the ING Group, a multinational bank which based its call centre in Kahramanmaraş, at the centre of the earthquake.
Unfortunately, it is not possible within the limites of this article for more detailed accounts. To say the least, the colonisation of the regions is still in progress. For instance, thermal cameras which were mainly being used by the Turkish army against Kurdish guerillas, had not been brought into the search for survivors, until other international rescue teams showed up.
To cut it short, people are largely being left to their own fate. Where they are being sought, it is by the most primitive technique, “Is there anybody in there?” Before they read Sala, if you are lucky enough, everyone around is silenced to listen for your breathing. No thermal cameras: they are i only being used to kill people in this country.
