'Turkey not united in the face of disaster'

It has come to light that only 85 billion out of the claimed 115 billion 146 million Turkish lira (over 4 billion US dollars) has been deposited despite 8 months passing since the launch of the "Turkey United in the Face of Disaster" aid campaign, initiated through pro-government media to "heal the wounds of the disaster," after the earthquakes on February 6. The

It was revealed that more than a quarter of the promised aid has not been deposited into the specified accounts of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), as brought to light by the parliamentary question submitted by the Republican People's Party (CHP) Isparta Deputy Hikmet Yalım Halıcı to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to be directed to  (AFAD).

Regarding Halıcı's question about "how much of the 115 billion 146 million Turkish lira collected in the 'Turkey United in the Face of Disaster' campaign, which was broadcasted on television channels on the night of February 15, has been deposited," the response from AFAD was conveyed by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ali Yerlikaya.

"Companies not having fulfilled their promised donations should be disclosed"

In their response to Halıcı's inquiry, AFAD stated that as of the response date, 85 billion Turkish lira had been deposited into the organization's account. Following AFAD's response, Halıcı also demanded the disclosure of companies, individuals, and institutions that have not yet fulfilled their promised donations.

Halıcı, upon the revelation that 30 billion Turkish lira are still not deposited, remarked, "Nine months have passed, and we are learning that some of the individuals and companies who declared donations have not made these donations. In fact, most of the donations were made by public institutions and banks; in other words, by the people themselves."

The Member of Parliament also stated that he asked about the individuals and companies who promised to donate but did not, but these names have not been disclosed.

Halıcı pointed out, "It was stated that 115 billion Turkish lira were collected, but nearly one year later, it has come to light that 30 billion Turkish lira were not deposited. Who are these companies? How much of their tax debts were forgiven? How many public contracts have they been awarded since that date? Why did they not make these donations?" He asked for these details to be shared with the public.

7,6 billion lira is people's own money

In its report on the donations made on the night of February 15, the Anadolu Agency stated that the highest donation came from the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB). TCMB President Şahap Kavcıoğlu, who joined the program, announced that they had donated 30 billion Turkish lira. Among the public banks, Ziraat Bank contributed 20 billion lira, VakıfBank 12 billion lira, and Halkbank 7 billion lira to the campaign. The Presidency of Defense Industries and its affiliated companies donated 3.6 billion lira, and Ziraat Participation, Vakıf Participation, and Emlak Participation banks, along with Emlak Konut, each donated 1 billion Turkish lira. This means that the donations from public banks and public capital institutions accounted for a total of 76.6 billion lira.

As the resources of these public institutions are inherently owned by the public, it essentially emerged from AFAD's response that a significant portion of the funds that were claimed to be collected or distributed in the "Turkey United in the Face of Disaster Campaign" belonged to the people themselves.

February 6 earthquakes

On February 6, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 struck the southern city of Maraş. The first quake in the Pazarcık district at 4.17 a.m. was followed by the second one in Elbistan about nine hours later.

The quakes affected 11 cities in Türkiye's south and southeast, as well as Syria's northern parts, where over 5,000 people have died.

Türkiye's death toll from the quakes stands at over 50 thousand. Over 227,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, according to government figures.

Nearly two million people have been displaced due to the earthquakes.

(AEK/PE)