Istanbul
Act Daily News
—
Turkey’s Red Crescent group has been criticized by lawmakers and residents after revelations that it offered tents to a charity as an alternative of donating them to folks in pressing want after the huge earthquake that claimed greater than 44,000 lives earlier this month.
While folks have been begging the federal government for shelters to sleep in through the freezing climate within the quick aftermath of the quake, the Turkish Red Crescent offered 2,050 tents to the AHBAP charity group for 46 million Turkish liras (round $2.4 million {dollars}), each teams have stated.
AHBAP, a well known charity within the nation, stated it was determined to accumulate tents and couldn’t discover any to ship to folks in want, so decided to buy from the Red Crescent, which is thought in Turkey as Kizilay.
“Our friends had a meeting with Kızılay Çadır ve Tekstil A.Ş, which is a subsidiary of Kızılay. We immediately signed the contract for the tents that we learned had 2,050 tents in hand, and the next morning we sent 2,050 tents to the earthquake zone,” AHBAP wrote in a tweet.
“Since the earthquake affected 10 provinces and the destruction was at an extraordinary level, the existing stocks of all tent manufacturers in our country could not meet the grievances of our citizens. The companies we contacted at that time did not have tents that we could send to the earthquake zone that morning. They were able to make them within a week at the earliest,” AHBAP added.
President of The Red Crescent, Kerem Kınık, informed Act Daily News’s sister community Act Daily News Turk Monday that he was not conscious of the sale, including that it was the choice of his employees to promote the tents. He stated if he was conscious of the scenario, he would have prompt giving them away.
However, a day earlier, on Sunday, Kınık wrote in a tweet, “@Ahbap and @Red Crescent’s cooperation is moral, rational, and legal. Anyone who claims otherwise either does not understand the issue or is malicious.”
Haluk Levent, a singer who based AHBAP, wrote in a tweet Monday that his charity not solely purchased tents but additionally bought “30 thousand units of food from Kızılay Lojistik A.Ş., which each one would supply 3 meals for a family of 4 and does not expire for a year.”
“In total, we purchased 108 million Turkish Liras worth of food from five different suppliers. 14 million of this (around $742,000) we bought from Kızılay Lojistik A.Ş.,” Levent additionally wrote.
Kınık additionally wrote on his Twitter account on Monday: “PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. The Red Crescent Society delivers the donations it receives to those in need, it certainly does NOT sell it. The subject in the press is the activities of our companies specialized in the field of humanitarian aid, which generates sustainable income for the Red Crescent.”
The revelations have attracted criticism in Turkey. Ahmet Davutoglu, who was previously prime minister below Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party, criticized the Red Crescent on Twitter, writing: “Red Crescent cannot sell tents while people are desperately waiting for tents on the street. Those tents should have been delivered to the people of the region free of charge. It’s called ignorance, losing your mind. Our country and our noble nation do not deserve this.”
Meral Akşener, the chief of Turkey’s opposition IYI Party, added: “The Turkish Red Crescent was established with the understanding “to protect the dignity of people and society with the power of goodness, to increase their resilience and to work to relieve their suffering”; With the facility of cash, you’ve got condemned folks to an understanding that leaves them alone and empties them. Shame on you!”
In the aftermath of the earthquake, many individuals together with residents, journalists, and opposition occasion members accused the Turkish authorities not solely of failing to distribute tents and meals to earthquake areas but additionally criticized it for not having sufficient groups for operations to rescue the survivors.
During a news convention on Monday, President Erdogan requested to be pardoned for delays in support and rescue. “Due to the weather and road conditions, we could not carry out the work we wanted in Adıyaman for the first few days, I ask your pardon for this. We are aware of everything, no one should doubt that we will do what is necessary,” he stated.
Last week, the Turkish authorities additionally introduced that it’ll begin some rebuilding in quake zones amid criticism from engineers and designers. Turkey’s Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change minister Murat Kurum introduced that excavation has begun for 885 homes within the earthquake area.
However, Turkey’s Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) warned about future issues that might come up from constructing homes in a hasty method.
Emin Koramaz, chairman of the TMMOB’s Board wrote in his column at BirGün, an impartial newspaper, that “every project that will be implemented without making new geological investigations, updating the ground surveys, and preparing the city plans in accordance with the earthquake after the earthquake means carrying the current earthquake risk to the future and putting people’s lives at risk.”
Some social media customers additionally criticized the constructing efforts, arguing that steady aftershocks within the area would injury the foundations of the brand new buildings.
President Erdogan, who faces a common election within the coming months, has promised new properties for the individuals who have been affected by the earthquake and stated that they’ll be accomplished in a yr.
Source: www.cnn.com