Protest march in Hatay against water outages

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The earthquake survivors in the Dursunlu neighborhood of Defne, Hatay, organized a march the previous evening in protest of power and water outages.

Sol Haber reported that the residents of the neigborhood emphasized that the issue of clean water has not been resolved after the February 6 earthquakes, and they demanded a solution to frequent power and water cuts. 

Residents of the neighborhood had previously carried out marches and sit-in protests demanding clean water, and that demolitions should not be carried out without wetting, and the speed limit of excavation trucks should be controlled.

"No water in the Dursunlu neighborhood"

After the march, Hizam Hasırcı, the organizational secretary of TÖB-Sen, the teachers union with organization efforts among the private sector teachers, addressed the authorities:

"If you have water in your homes, the citizens should have water in their homes as well. Otherwise, we won't leave you in peace in this city. Unfortunately, due to the incompetence of the authorities, we cannot access the water needed for hygiene, even though we struggle to find drinking water. Unfortunately, there is no water in Dursunlu neighborhood, and people are being forced to live in unhealthy conditions. We've had enough. The shortage of water, combined with the increase in temperature, could expose the neighborhood to an outbreak."

Emine Algan described Hatay as follows in her article which was among those in bianet's special series Six Months on From Turkey Earthquakes:

"At the end of six months, there's no need to provide numbers, ratios, especially for Antakya, Hatay. No number matters. Because there's still no water. There are still not enough toilets. No electricity. There is no public service, including healthcare."

(AS/PE)