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Van A Ghost Town After Earthquake: Epress.Am Correspondent In Turkey

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  • Van A Ghost Town After Earthquake: Epress.Am Correspondent In Turkey

    VAN A GHOST TOWN AFTER EARTHQUAKE: EPRESS.AM CORRESPONDENT IN TURKEY

    epress.am
    10.31.2011

    First impressions after arriving in Van are more positive than
    negative. In my opinion, the media has exaggerated some situations
    in Van following the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey's
    eastern region over a week ago, reports the Epress.am correspondent
    on the scene who arrived in Van on Saturday.

    "There is much help arriving in the disaster zone, but there are
    serious issues in its delivery. Tents are arriving, as are food and
    clothes, but there is need for more professional distribution of these
    goods. There are many complaints. There are few points of distribution
    and the lines are very long.

    "Rescue teams are already starting to clean up the area, but there
    is not much hope that there are people alive beneath the rubble.

    "A serious problem over the past two days has been the cold weather.

    It is 2º Celsius during the day and 0º at night. Some of the tents
    that have been delivered are summer tents and they won't be able to
    keep people warm in these cold weather conditions.

    "Though someone who just arrived in Van might get the impression
    that life is returning to normal, that's not quite the case. People
    are afraid: they don't want to return to their buildings so they
    continue to live in tents. Many have left the city. At night, there
    are no lights on in the streets and in buildings - Van has become a
    ghost town.

    "After several conversations [with local residents] I can say that
    people in Van don't trust the government anymore. They don't even
    believe the local Kurdish municipal authorities [note: Van is mostly
    populated by Kurds].

    "They are waiting for confirmation and a hopeful declaration from
    the state that it will assume the task of quickly rebuilding the city.

    "'We went back 15 years,' the owner of our hotel told me. This is
    an assessment heard often in today's Van," reports the Epress.am
    correspondent in Van.

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