MARAŞ - People living in Birageni village of Elbistan district migrated because they had problems with housing and heating. Those who remained in the village expressed their rebellion with the words, "We are fed up, we can not stand anymore."

 

After the earthquake in Elbistan, almost all rural neighborhoods were emptied, and problems still continue in the settlements where very few people remain. One of these neighborhoods is the Yapılıpınar and Dervişçimli neighborhoods of Elbistan. Birageni Neighborhood, which has been constantly emigrating since the day it was founded, and half of it was emptied especially after the pandemic, was almost completely abandoned in the earthquake. Citizens whose houses were destroyed and their barns became unusable after the earthquake immigrated by selling their animals at a cheap price.

 

THEY IMMIGRATE BECAUSE THEY CANNOT SHELTER

 

Only two families remained in the neighborhood, whose road was opened days after the earthquake and where vehicles can still drive by force. Families staying in the neighborhood say that they will migrate if there is no solution for them. The two families, who had to put their animals in heavily damaged barns, stated that no state officials visited their villages and said that they had to migrate because there was no place to house them or the animals. We are fed up, we can not stand anymore."

 

'WE CAN'T STAND ANYMORE'

 

One of the citizens, Hüseyin Yıldız, who stated that he was a farmer in the village, said: “After the earthquake, all our neighbors passed away. They couldn't find a place to live and left. I am in great pain from this. It had to be this way because we have to take care of each other. If we don't take care of each other, nobody will take care of us. If we as a people always stand side by side, we will solve all our problems together. The view of our village is very painful. As Hodja Ali Haki said, our village is wailing. What could be worse than that? Most of the houses here have been destroyed and we have no home to enter. We still can't feed our animals. We are feeding our animals in a ruined ruin. After all these days, we still have a tent problem. No one has asked us yet. You have come to this village for the first time and we are telling you what we have been through.”

 

THEY ARE WAITING FOR HELP

 

Stating that they stay in the damaged house because there is no tent, Zeynep Kaya said: “Our animals are suffering because our barn was destroyed. We urgently need food, wood and coal. We want tents for our animals again. Since there is no tent, we stay in the damaged house. Even though there is a tent, there is snow everywhere, how will we endure?  We're fed up, we can't stand anymore.  We are waiting for help."

 

MA / Adnan Bilen