A very unfortunate incident happened in my country recently. I'm sure many of you have heard it from the news. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake occurred that affected 10 of our cities. When I got the news, I didn't expect the disaster to be this big. When I watched the morning news on the day of the incident, I was in great shock. I was filled with great sadness and anger. Of course, I know how helpless we humans are in natural events. However, when I saw the destroyed buildings, I could not contain my anger. I am angry that buildings are so unstable and that human life is so worthless. I am angry that the contractors are making perishable buildings at the expense of human life in order to earn more money.
I am angry that the government did not prepare for the earthquake and did not take precautions. As someone who experienced a similar earthquake in 1999, it is sad to see that nothing has changed. I am angry that we still haven't made any headway on the earthquake after all these years.
I am sorry to say that 20 thousand people died in this tragic event and that this will unfortunately increase. Not all destroyed buildings have been reached yet. I am sorry for this unfortunate event that has been happening in my country for days. I can neither eat nor sleep well. I can't do these things because I know the hardships people go through on this cold winter day. Knowing this, I can't go on with my life as if nothing happened.
Search and rescue teams came from many countries around the world. Knowing that we are not alone made us happy even if it was a little bit of sadness. When I saw this solidarity, I couldn't help myself not to cry. I was very touched by the fact that even the countries with which we could not come to an agreement due to political events mobilized for us. At that moment, I realized that "if there were no political figures, people would really understand it very well." Without them, I realized that language, religion and race don't matter. I wish, as a whole humanity, we could live in unity and togetherness, not only with such painful events, but always and everywhere.
Today is the 7th day of the event and there are occasional survivors of the wreckage. When we see them, we forget all this sadness and rejoice together. We cry when we see the dead. I don't know how to recover. What a pity that as a people we can't do anything but wait and pray helplessly for the salvation of people. I only talked about people, but every living thing is precious to us. There were also animals that survived the wreckage. There are rescue teams who do their best to save them as well. I pray as I see their moment of salvation. Still, there are things that cannot be erased from my mind.
I will never be able to erase from my mind especially the father who did not let go of his dead daughter's hand even for a moment, and the fearful looks of people and animals that came out of the wreckage. In all these sad moments, I will not forget the image of the 20-day-old baby who was rescued 60 hours after the wreckage. Fortunately, we also receive miraculous news in these dark days. I hope many people are rescued as soon as possible. I would like to thank the people in my country and other countries who have come to support, sent support and whose hearts are with us. I know a lot of people are mobilizing and sending support, and I feel a little bit of hope.
And you Turkey! You have endured all the difficulties. You always stood up again. I know you will rise again from the ashes.