Turkey President Faces Voter Fury After Earthquake

Published

2 years ago

February 10, 2023

Hakan Tanriverdi has a simple message for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan days after Turkey suffered its worst disaster in generations: “Don’t come here asking for votes.”

The earthquake that killed more than 21,000 people across Turkey and Syria came at one of the most politically sensitive moments of Erdogan’s two-decade rule.

The Turkish leader has proposed holding a crunch election on May 14 that could keep his Islamic-rooted government in power until 2028.

The date gives his splintered opposition little time to hammer out their differences and agree on a joint presidential candidate.

Whether that vote can now go ahead as planned remains to be seen.

Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency across 10 quake-hit provinces. The region is still digging out its dead and many are living on the streets or in their cars.

Campaigning here seems out of the question.

But there is also a political dimension that is deeply personal for Erdogan.

The earthquake struck just as he was gaining momentum and starting to lift his approval numbers from a low suffered during a dire economic crisis that exploded last year.

Tanriverdi’s bitterness is a bad sign for Erdogan in a province where he handily beat his secular opposition rival in the last election in 2018.

“We were deeply hurt that no one supported us,” Tanriverdi said of the government’s earthquake response.

– Erdogan fights back –
Tanriverdi’s grievances are common in Adiyaman province — one of the hardest-hit by the quake.

Locals complain that rescuers didn’t arrive in time to pull out people who survived the first critical hours. Some pointed to a lack of machinery to drill through slabs of concrete.

“I did not see anyone until 2:00 pm on the second day of the earthquake,” Adiyaman resident Mehmet Yildirim said.

“No government, no state, no police, no soldiers. Shame on you! You left us on our own.”

Erdogan admitted “shortcomings” in the government’s handling of the disaster on Wednesday.

But he is also fighting back. The 68-year-old led a rescue response meeting in Ankara on Tuesday and spent the following two days touring a series of devastated cities.

He is yet to visit Adiyaman.

That upsets Hediye Kalkan, a volunteer who travelled nearly 150 kilometres (95 miles) to help with the Adiyaman rescue and recovery effort.

“Why doesn’t the state show itself on a day like this?” she demanded.

“People are taking their relatives’ bodies out by their own means”.

– ‘Isn’t it a sin?’ –
The sheer scale and timing of the disaster — spanning a large and remote region in the middle of a winter storm — would make any rescue effort complicated.

Erdogan has received a largely warm reception from locals in carefully choreographed visits broadcast on national television.

One elderly Syria, Turkey Quake Toll Rises To 2,300 came out to hug Erdogan and shed tears on his shoulder.

Veysel Gultekin might not do the same if he had a chance to face the Turkish leader.

19-year-old Nigerian Artiste Beaten To Death In Ghana

Published

7 hours ago

June 11, 2025

Editor

A 19-year-old upcoming Nigerian artiste identified simply as Destiny has been beaten to death in the Volta Region area of Ghana.

According to The PUNCH, the incident happened on May 28.

It was gathered that a yet-to-be-identified Nigerian based in Ghana accused him of failing to remit funds related to a business venture they introduced him to.

The male adult, who was also said to be among those who facilitated his trip to the country, stormed his apartment alongside two others to question him about the funds.

However, Destiny’s failure to provide answers led to a severe assault meted out to him.

A source privy to the incident told The PUNCH on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because he lacked the authority to speak with the media that the Edo State-born artiste thereafter succumbed to the injuries sustained from the assault.

“Destiny went to Ghana to further his education, and the travel was facilitated by someone he called his street brother. These are the same people who provided an apartment for him over there. Those who broke the news to us from there said the men introduced him to a business, which they later accused him of diverting some funds meant for the business. This angered them, and they went to his apartment and beat him up. The beating was so intense that he felt weak and gave up the ghost in the process,” the source narrated.

It was further learnt that the suspects left the deceased’s body in the room after they discovered that he was motionless.

Another source who spoke to newsmen said the police later discovered the corpse a few days after the incident.

“The police were alerted to the incident, and some officers were deployed to the apartment where Destiny’s remains were found. We were told that no suspects had been arrested since his death. We hope the Ghanaian authorities find his killers and bring them to justice.”

In a video obtained by The PUNCH, Destiny was seen speaking about himself and what his plans were.

He said, “I am Destiny and I am a streamer from Nigeria. I want to apply to Streamers University, and this will be a great joy for me, my mother, and everybody. I am also an artiste and a gamer. I do all sorts of things.”

Recall that in April a 77-year-old Nigerian Uber driver, Olatunji Bolaji, was killed in a shooting outside a hookah lounge in Philadelphia, United States.

Bolaji, who lived in Norristown, Pennsylvania, was on duty around 2 a.m. on Wednesday when he picked up a passenger, a 22-year-old man, outside the Byblos Hookah Bar near Rittenhouse Square in Centre City, CBS reports on Friday.

Police said shortly after Bolaji picked up the young man, another vehicle pulled up behind his SUV, and two men got out.

One of them opened fire, shooting both Bolaji and the passenger.

Headline

Nine Dead In Austria School Shooting

Published

1 day ago

June 10, 2025

Editor

A mass shooting at a secondary school in Austria’s second-largest city has left nine people dead and at least 10 others injured in what authorities are calling one of the country’s worst school attacks in recent history, Al-Jazeera reported.

Police were called to BORG Dreierschutzengasse school in Graz on Tuesday morning after reports of gunfire. Emergency services responded swiftly and secured the area.

Authorities later confirmed that the suspected shooter had died by suicide, bringing the total number of dead to ten, including the attacker.

According to local officials, at least seven of those killed were students. Graz Mayor Elke Kahr described the shooting as a “terrible tragedy.” One adult was also among the dead, though their identity has not yet been released.

The incident reportedly began shortly after 10 a.m. local time and unfolded across two classrooms. Students, many aged 14 and older, were evacuated and are now receiving psychological support alongside their families.

The attacker is believed to have acted alone and is reported to be a former school student. The motive behind the shooting remains unclear.

Headline

17 Palestinians Killed In Israeli Strikes Near Gaza Aid Site

Published

2 days ago

June 10, 2025

Editor

At least 17 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured on Tuesday near a humanitarian aid distribution site in central Gaza, according to local health authorities as reported by Reuters.

The casualties reportedly occurred as large crowds of displaced residents gathered in the area to receive aid.

The deaths were attributed to Israeli gunfire by Gaza’s health officials.

The Israeli military said its forces had fired warning shots at “suspects who were advancing in the area of Wadi Gaza and posed a threat to the troops.”

It added that it was aware of reports that several were injured, but said numbers released by local health authorities did not align with the information it had collected.

“The warning shots were fired hundreds of meters from the aid distribution site, prior to its opening hours and toward the suspects who posed a threat to the troops,” the military added.

Medics confirmed that those injured were transported to Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp and Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City.

The Israeli military contested the reported casualty figures but acknowledged that several people were wounded during the incident.

The shooting occurred in an area where the military has labelled a hazardous zone for its personnel.

This came after a warning issued last week by the Israeli army, advising Palestinians to avoid roads leading to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., which were designated as “closed military zones.”

The incident adds to growing concerns over civilian safety amid ongoing conflict in Gaza. Just last week, at least 27 Palestinians were reported killed near another aid site in Rafah, also by Israeli fire.

That event marked the third consecutive day of disruption to aid operations, according to local health officials.

“Day after day, casualties & scores of injured are reported at distribution points manned by Israel & private security companies,” Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), wrote on X.

“This humiliating system continues to force thousands of hungry & desperate people to walk for tens of miles excluding the most vulnerable & those living too far,” he said.

The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023, single deadliest day.

Israel’s military campaign has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave.

AFP