Uncertain Future For Turkish Refugees in TRNC

turkey-earthquake

Wednesday, 22 February 2023 

Thousands of earthquake victims who fled to North Cyprus after they lost their homes following the earthquakes in Turkey said that conditions in Turkey were unbearable and that they feared for the future, Yeniduzen reports.

Yeniduzen interviewed some of the survivors who arrived in North Cyprus who said, that as a last resort, they had sought refuge with their relatives. However, some said that if conditions improved they wanted to return to Turkey. While others said that even if they do return, they have lost everything.

Most of those who spoke to the newspaper said they were concerned about being immigrants and their uncertain status.

A primary school teacher in Adıyaman, where a number of Turkish Cypriots died, said: “There is ongoing uncertainty, we don’t know what to do either”. He said that he had come to stay with his mother-in-law, and that their stay was temporary.

He said  that the school where he worked was largely destroyed and unusable. “They announced that schools will open on March 27, but how can it be opened? Even if it is opened, will there be any students? Everyone has migrated, no one has remained in the city“, he said.

The teacher, who has a young son, said that over 40,000 had perished in Adıyaman alone, and that firstly, they had tried to find shelter with their families in Turkey. They had spent most of their nights sleeping in the car because there was not enough room to accommodate them all.

He also said that the Turkish government had not offered any further help for the last four days and that they had survived on aid.

People tried to pull their relatives out of the rubble by their own means“, he said.

It is understood that while earthquake victims who lost homes and workplaces in Turkey and who took refuge with their friends and relatives in Cyprus continue to come to the country, aid efforts will be organised by the Turkish Embassy in Nicosia.

For full report click here – Yeniduzen

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