Turkey mourns on second anniversary of major Feb. 6 quakes

Turkey has mourned its thousands of dead on the second anniversary of the Feb. 6 earthquakes which shook the southeastern provinces.

Thursday February 06 2025 09:22 pm

Duvar English

Turkey on Feb. 6 mourned its thousands of dead on the second anniversary of the 7.7 and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes that shook the southeastern provinces.

The quakes, one occurring at 04.17 a.m in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş and the other at 01.24 p.m in the Elbistan district, left more than 50,000 people dead and injured more than 100,000 people according to official figures.

Hatay

In the southern Hatay province, one of the most affected provinces by the quakes, a crowd silently marched from Atatürk Street to Cumhuriyet Square and a moment of silence dedicated to the dead lives at 04.17 a.m when the first earthquake hit.

However, some quake survivors who wanted to march to Harbiye Street was met by police intervention. During a scuffle, the police detained three people, Yüsra Batıhan from Duvar reported.

Fetva Barburoğlu, one of the earthquake survivors who came to the commemoration with carnations, said, “I was not allowed into the commemoration area, so I guess I’m a terrorist.”

Other earthquake survivors said, “If so many police had been sent in the aftermath of the earthquake, maybe a lot of people would have been saved and we would have died less.”

Adana

In the southern Adana province, a commemoration was held in front of the Alpargün Apartment where 96 people lost their lives.

Adıyaman

In the Adıyaman province, a silence march was held. The march saw the participation of main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel and Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

Kahramanmaraş

Those who lost their lives in the quakes were commemorated in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the earthquake.

Malatya

A group gathered at the Hayat Apartment Complex area where 17 people lost their lives, lit torches, left carnations and observed a moment of silence.

CHP Malatya Deputy Veli Ağbaba said, “One of the most important things that the earthquake taught us is that those responsible are not punished. Unfortunately, not a single local administrator, not a single politician, not a single bureaucrat has been punished or prosecuted in Malatya or in many other cities where we experienced the earthquake.”

Participants held banners reading "It is not the earthquake but negligence that kills," and "Earthquake is not destiny."

Diyarbakır

The 411 people who lost their lives in Diyarbakır were commemorated at the site where the rubble of Serin-2 Apartment Building, in which buried 77 people died, was removed.