The Disaster In Turkey

The rescue efforts have been both tragic and miraculous.

Now, it is time to lay blame where it must be laid:

On Sunday, Turkey detained building contractors who tried to flee the country as it announced that more than 100 people were being investigated over the collapse of homes during the country’s devastating earthquakes.

Fuat Oktay, the country’s vice- president, promised “meticulous” efforts to charge those who failed to build to the required standards, amid allegations that thousands of homes fell down when the 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude quakes struck on Monday because of corruption and shoddy workmanship. He added that 134 people were under investigation for building breaches, while state media reported that three people had been arrested, seven barred from leaving the country and seven others detained.

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Erdogan’s enervation of Turkish civil society can’t help but hamper the government’s response to the quake. And the resulting fallout will expose him to criticism in the lead-up to the general election scheduled for May 14. Tellingly, in his speech announcing emergency measures, Erdogan aimed a preemptive sideswipe at critics: “This is not the day of debate with them, (but) when the day comes, we’ll open the notebook that we’re keeping.”

The threat is anything but subtle. “He’s warning journalists and civil society that we will prosecute you if you criticize us,” says Nate Schenkkan, Freedom House’s senior director of research on countering authoritarianism. “He’s trying to short-circuit any discussion about accountability.”

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Well, Turkey, it seems you have every in hand:

Maisel said: “We knew that there was a certain level of risk in sending our team to this area of Turkey, which is close to the Syrian border but we took the necessary steps in order to mitigate the threat for the sake of our lifesaving mission. Unfortunately, we have just received intelligence of a concrete and immediate threat on the Israeli delegation and we have to put the security of our personnel first. We are extremely proud of what our team has accomplished in just a few days, assisting in the rescue of 15 individuals in cooperation with the IDF Home Front Command, Israel’s Search and Rescue units, local rescue forces, and the Turkish Red Cross. I want to thank Dr. Adelson for assisting us in bringing our people back quickly and safely.”

 

(Sidebar: "priorities" right?)