Türkiye earthquake survivors fear they will be excluded from the general elections in May

Ali, a 23-year-old student, lost everything in two earthquakes that hit Turkey in February.

He lost his parents, and his hometown of Antakya is in ruins.

To fight back, Ali, who, like many survivors, declined to give his full name, has launched a campaign to ensure that the more than 3 million people displaced by the February disaster can vote in next month’s general election.

The May 14 poll is expected to be fraught for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a dominant leader who has been forced to take the unusual position of apologizing for his government’s response to Turkey’s worst disaster in modern times.

Rescuers and aid workers took days to reach some of the devastated areas, creating a sense of abandonment and anger directed at those responsible over the death toll exceeding 50,000.

“It is important that the polls reflect this anger,” said Ali, who now lives in Ankara.

He launched an appeal on Twitter asking political parties to pay for bus tickets for students who had to leave Antakya but want to return to vote.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has pledged its support.

People who have taken refuge in cities like Ankara, Istanbul and Mersin on Turkey’s southern coast have until April 2 to register their new voting address.

Those who missed the chance to return to their ruined cities to cast their ballots.

Erdogan’s opponents view the early deadline as a covert government effort to suppress the protest vote.

“People have lost their loved ones and everything that was precious to them. Most of them were not in a condition to register the elections,” said Ali Oztung, a CHP deputy who represents Kahramanmaraş, near the epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake.

Fear of victims

Only 50,000 of the 820,000 registered voters in Kahramanmaras have been able to change their registration, according to Oztunc, who estimates that half of the province’s population has left.

This means that hundreds of thousands will have to somehow find their way back to participate in what is widely seen as Turkey’s most important election in post-Ottoman history.

“It is impossible to transport so many people,” Oztunc said.

“It would take thousands of buses, and it would create massive traffic jams. No party can regulate that.”

The leader of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, is the opposition’s joint candidate in the presidential elections.

The party’s vice president, Onursal Adıgüzel, publicly accuses officials of trying to quell turnout among the displaced.

“The authorities could have extended the deadline to help with the registration,” Adigüzel said.

“But they fear the victims,” ​​he said. “They are doing everything to disrupt the vote.”

Abdullah, a father of two who was forced to leave Kahramanmaraş, said he was strongly discouraged by civil servants from changing his registration address.

“I was told that I would lose my rights to public assistance to earthquake victims,” Abdullah said at his temporary home in Ankara.

“So I kept my banner in Kahramanmaraş. But I don’t know how I will be able to go there and vote.”

Free elections are impossible

In a shelter on the outskirts of Ankara, only 120 of the 525 displaced families have taken the necessary steps to change their legal address.

Ayman Gasaloglu, 34, who lives in the shelter with her two daughters, is determined to return to Antakya on election day – even if it means sleeping in a tent.

“It is about my future,” said Gasaloglu. “I will vote no matter what.”

Some said returning to the county would also give them a chance to monitor the vote and report any irregularities.

Erdogan’s critics fear that the voting lists include people who are missing but not officially declared dead, giving way to manipulation by election officials.

“The authorities are not publicly disclosing the number of missing persons. This is a source of concern,” said Adigüzel, vice president of the CHP.

Ozgur Yusuf Kavukcu, 45, was able to register to vote in Ankara. But most of his friends will have to return to Antakya, a ghost town where only a fraction of the buildings have survived unharmed.

“I think holding free elections is impossible under these circumstances,” Cavoccio said.

“But there is no other choice. We have already lost a lot because of the earthquakes. A loser.” [our right to vote] It will be another disaster.”

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