EARTHQUAKE and STATE (News File) Cagla Oflas wrote
Türkçe State and Earthquake Two major earthquakes centred in Maraş affected the lives of millions of people. Turkey's 10 provinces and In the aftermath of the earthquake that affected northern Syria, more than 100,000 humanitarian casualties will occur rumour has it. The number of wounded has already reached 100,000. The region of 13 million inhabitants it will be a long time before it is habitable. Tens of thousands of people are living in the ruins while most of the people who barely escaped with their lives still have tents and necessary supplies. and the public power holders have not been able to deliver it. While the earthquake razed cities to the ground, those who hold public power once again it is revealed that they use all the power in their hands to protect the security and stability of capital. it's out. There were no search and rescue teams in the critical three days after the earthquake. The few that arrived three days later AFAD officials in large numbers had no equipment at their disposal. The indifference shown by AFAD and the Red Crescent incompetence left people stranded for days and millions are still stranded. A week after the earthquake The tents, which could only be set up later, have problems such as food, bed, toilet, hygiene and heating. The army, on the other hand did not mobilise all its power for those trapped under the cave-in. The government has failed to respond to all the warnings of scientists. did not take it into account. He did not take the necessary measures. After the earthquake, there were It was once again revealed that all the rules to be followed were violated. Profit-orientated construction of 2000 All buildings, including those built after the earthquake, turned into mass graveyards. Undoubtedly, the earthquake has brought all authorisations the centralised power structure has come to an end. However, millions of people the idea of the state was also destroyed. According to a news article in Artı Gerçek Newspaper after the earthquake "Where is the state?" asked a woman waiting by her four children buried under the ruins. Similar scenes took place during the 1999 Marmara earthquake. The state did not provide 72 could not reach for hours. Basic needs such as food, health services and tents could not be reached. At that time The DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition government was in charge of the state. The government turned the disaster into an opportunity. It imposed additional taxes on labourers, including earthquake insurance, special communication tax not only that, but also enacted the law on pension in the grave, which increased the retirement age and the number of premium days. put it. The headline of Yeni Şafak Newspaper, which today has turned into an apparatus of the government, was "The State's collapse." The state did not collapse, but it revealed the class character of the state for millions of labourers. the earthquake had an extractive function. Not only did the authorities do nothing, but the mobilisation of labourers They set up "crisis centres" which turned the aid they delivered into mountains of garbage. Armed forces He didn't distribute bread to the people. He did not dig out the people trapped under the rubble with shovels and bulldozers. It went to the region with its tanks and guns to maintain order. He did not provide free health care for the injured. and did not ensure easy access. The MHP Minister of Health said that foreign blood donations would be "added to Turkish blood". should not be involved". Almost a quarter of a century has passed since the 99th Nothing has changed on the floor. As the state has not mobilised all its resources for the disaster victims preventing aid from reaching the labourers. People waiting by the ruins have been blocked by AFAD. does not feel its presence, but shares sms and bank information on the AFAD website. Since the earthquake the declaration of a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces before 48 hours have passed, the only thing the state is interested in the security of capital. A government that turns disasters into opportunities Milton Friedman, the leading figure of neo-liberalism, has said that "in the aftermath of a catastrophe you can easily implement it". Knowing this very well, President Erdogan is prepared to face all kinds of disasters. is quite skilful in turning it into an opportunity. As a result of the taxes enacted after the 1999 earthquake, approximately 48 billion liras of revenue was generated. Of these taxes, a permanent tax, which later became permanent and was publicly labelled as "earthquake The Special Communication Tax, also known as the "special communication tax", has so far generated 88 billion TL in revenues. The AKP government, which is almost synonymous with construction, has spent the taxes collected from labourers on double-decker roads, While transferring it to railways, airlines and airlines, it has benefited the capital with gigantic rent and plunder projects. As was the case after the Van Earthquake in 2011, labourers were forced to pay for "urban transformation" under the name of "urban transformation". their properties were destroyed. Beneficiaries were made to pay the difference with long-term loans at the rate of inflation, New resources were created for contractor companies and banks. Turning all crisis environments into opportunities The government maintained this attitude during the pandemic. According to their GDP, pandemic support and While Turkey provides the least aid with 1.9 per cent of its expenditures, the dilemma between hunger and wealth was able to send the IBAN number to millions of labourers. 70 per cent of the 70 per cent from the taxes of the labourers Treasury resources are being diverted to capital and defence expenditure. A few weeks ago the government a total of 250 billion credits, 200 billion of which is backed by the Treasury, for bosses in all sectors package was made available. The repressive and class character of the state As a result of the multiple crises of capitalism, leading to the definition of an "age of catastrophes and revolutions", millions of people, living beings, disappeared, the ecosystem collapsed, many fires, hurricanes, floods, such as climate change disasters. There were epidemics such as Covid 19 that cost the lives of millions of labourers. In none of these disasters could the poor and labourers reach the state they sought. Including the economic crisis, all labourers have been abandoned in disasters. In all these events, which have almost become a rule governments in power have their share. However, every single crisis, including the corruption of public officials The fact that it has turned into a catastrophe is due to the class structure of the capitalist state. Capitalists maximise profit and the integration of the state with capital, especially in the economy. While it leads to a crisis in the field, all its disastrous consequences are billed to the working class. Capitalist All authoritarian governments in society, from reformist to liberal and authoritarian They form versions of themselves that implement the programme of carrots and sticks. Reckless power mediocre opposition The Turkish Type Presidential System, which centralises all powers, is unique among these versions. is undoubtedly one of its examples. As Alper Görmüş correctly observes, "even in the event of a disaster There is a state and a government" whose main concern is to suppress criticism. Actually, When the history of the Republic is taken into consideration, the unlawfulness and nobility of the government can be seen in a single case. is not. All the nations living on the geography left over from the empire Kemalist state structure that represses and dissolves all class differences in favour of capital When it is analysed, it will be seen that the relationship between the state and society is based on decay. The Republic and from the one-party dictatorship established after the establishment of the single-party dictatorship, to the history of coups, to coalition governments When we look at all the governments formed, we see that many disasters, scandals and unlawful behaviour have been experienced. is seen. All political structures from liberal to conservative, democratic to "communist", It cannot go too far from the borders of the "nation state" set by the ideology of Kemalism. It cannot go far because no bourgeois party that does not accept Kemalism's understanding of the state and the legal system governance cannot be possible. It is impossible for such a mediocre opposition to govern against such a reckless government. is the main reason for this.
