Demirtaş says earthquake death toll figures false 'like during pandemic'

Renowned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş has said that the official death toll figures for the latest devastating quakes is false “like during the pandemic.” The official death toll has risen to 20,318 with demolished buildings has been recorded as 6,444.

Saturday February 11 2023 11:07 am

Duvar English

Jailed former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş said on Feb. 10 that the official death toll figures for the latest major earthquakes in Turkey’s southeast is false “like during the pandemic.”

“Unfortunately, more than 100,000 people are still under the rubble. Even now, the number of people we lost may have exceeded 30,000,” Demirtaş said in a series of tweets on Feb. 9.

The accuracy of the official death and case statistics was severely questioned during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“From the first moment, they (the government) tried to prevent the outrage by hiding the enormity of the disaster. As a result, they delayed the public's mobilization to help (to rescue efforts). You have no place to sleep!” Demirtaş noted.

On the support of 10,000 liras ($531) that President Erdoğan announced for the victims of the earthquake, Demirtaş said, "They have lost their minds and morals enough to promise to give 10,000 liras to those who are waiting for a voice under the rubble."

“It is time for 85 million people to see and accept the truth that the era of this government is over, it's over,” he added.

1- Ne yazık ki deprem rakamları da pandemi rakamları gibi yalan.

Maalesef 100 binden fazla insan halen enkaz altında.

Şu anda bile kaybettiğimiz insan sayısı 30 bini geçmiş olabilir.
— Selahattin Demirtaş (@hdpdemirtas) February 10, 2023

Similarly, HDP lawmaker Garo Paylan said "A significant part of the corpses unearthed in Adıyaman province are buried by their relatives without being officialy recorded. The death numbers are unfortunately much higher than announced."

Adıyaman’da enkazlardan çıkarılan cenazelerin ciddi bölümü kayda girmeden yakınları tarafından defnediliyor.
Ölüm sayıları maalesef açıklananın çok üzerinde
— Garo Paylan - Կարօ Փայլան (@GaroPaylan) February 11, 2023

As of Feb. 11 morning, some 20,665 people have yet lost their lives, according to official figures, and 80,088 others have been injured in two major earthquakes that struck southeastern Turkey on Feb. 6 at magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6.

Geologist Prof. Dr. Övgün Ahmet Ercan on Feb. 7 estimated the number of people under the rubble as roughly 184,000.