CHP leader shares AFAD report pointing at quake response problems

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has shared a report prepared by the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) for the magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Düzce on Nov. 23, 2022, and said the disaster agency revealed the problems it faced in the report.

“This time, I will tell you through an official report what our people are up against, where this Palace policy has led to, and why I can never accept this so-called supra-political imposition,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in a video message posted on his Twitter account on Feb. 9.

It has been prepared in order to contribute to disaster management in similar events that may occur in our country where disaster risks are very high, the CHP leader said, noting that there was no loss of life, with 96 injuries in the latest Düzce quake. It was a relatively minor earthquake, and an analysis report was prepared by AFAD after the tremor, Kılıçdaroğlu added.

“The AFAD says in that report: ‘We could not provide coordination, the assembly area was chosen incorrectly, aid arrived late, we could not follow up the tents, there was no unit to follow and coordinate the staff in charge, a coordination unit could not be established, we had problems in the distribution of food and the disaster transport personnel only two days later in Düzce,’” Kılıçdaroğlu stated.