A Turkish-Syrian non-governmental organization denounced this Wednesday that the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad continues to bomb positions of Syrian rebels even after they have been hit by the earthquakes recorded on Monday in northwestern Syria and Turkey.
“Reports are emerging that there are areas affected by the earthquake that are being bombed by the Syrian regime. The brutality of the Syrian regime continues, it does not allow aid [as populações afetadas] and has blocked all kinds of international support,” Fatih Sanli, executive director of the Turkish non-governmental organization (NGO) SOLARIS, which also operates in northern and northwestern Syria, told Lusa news agency.
Fatih Sanli’s allegations, interviewed by telephone by Lusa, have not yet been confirmed by independent sources.
“[O apoio às populações sírias] it can only come through the Syrian regime. We know what happened in the past. As in the past, the Syrian regime will not allow anything to reach the people who need it most. In these zones, everything is blocked, everything is very difficult,” added Fatih Sanli, who is also a human rights adviser to several Syrian and Turkish NGOs and institutions.
For the Executive Director of SOLARIS, an organization that brings together a group of concerned citizens with a global vision for sustainable change in the world, earthquakes of magnitude, first of 7.8 and then 7.5, on the Richter scale, have swept the region destroyed are the “deadliest” since 1800, as stated by several specialists in seismology.
“It is very bad. The number of people affected is much greater than the total population of Portugal. In Turkey alone there are 13 million and in Syria more than five to six million. There are areas in Syria where no one has yet managed to reach.” and the same goes through areas in Turkey,” he underlined.
Despite the fact that the situation in Turkey is better organized than in Syria, the death toll in both countries will be “much higher” than the approximately 8,600 already announced by Ankara and the more than 2,660 in Syria, Fatih Sanli noted.
The person in charge of SOLARIS admitted that the various estimates of specialists who realize that more than 40,000 people will remain under the rubble in Turkey alone, with no indication of the same number in Syria.
“Unfortunately, the number of deaths is higher than in the 1999 Turkey earthquake. It is really bad. There are many missing people. It is estimated that more than 40,000 people are under the rubble in Turkey in the places close to the city of Kahramanmaras, where the epicenter of the earthquake was recorded, which has been practically destroyed,” he added.
Fatih Sanli praised the prompt assistance from the international community, but lamented the late arrival of search and rescue teams and equipment, which will arrive after the first 72 hours after the earthquakes, “critical to save lives”.
“There are also the problems of the weather. It’s cold, it’s snowing, it’s raining in many areas and there are temperatures below zero, which also doesn’t help at all,” added the head of SOLARIS, who indicated that the organization had volunteers on the scene to help alleviate the problems of the survivors, who were left with nothing.
“But there is still a lot to do, especially on the Syrian side [controlada pelos que combatem o regime de Bashar al-Assad]. The only organization supporting the people on the ground is linked to the ‘White Helmets’ [os socorristas voluntários nas zonas rebeldes na Síria]. Whether in Syria or Turkey, much has been done, but it is still not enough. And there may still be survivors under the rubble, but it’s very hard to know,” he said.
For the survivors, asked Fatih Sanli, “a lot” is needed – “they need a lot of things, the babies, the children and, because it’s cold, they need heating, clothes, shoes, food (preserved) like the volunteers on site.
“In Turkey, the situation is much better than in Syria. Hospitals, clinics, doctors and nurses have been added.”
The Executive Director of SOLARIS also appealed to the Portuguese people to send material goods to Syria.
“Last week we were in Portugal [em conjunto com o diretor e fundador do Observatório Sírio dos Direitos Humanos (OSDH), Fadel Abdul Ghany] talk about the war and crimes against humanity committed in Syria, which continue, and now comes this catastrophe that makes the situation even worse,” he lamented.
Source: DN
