Elbistan (Kurdish: Elbistan; Arabic: البستان, Armenian: Աբլաստա, Old Anatolian Turkish: Ablasta, Ablastayn, Ablastin, Ablistan) is a town and district in Kahramanmaraş Province in North Kurdistan / southern Turkey. Its population was registered as 142,548 in 2019. The district is majority Sunni Turkish, with large Alevi and Kurdish populations. It is the largest district of the province by area and it has the fourth largest plain in the country.
The Elbistan coalfield supplies lignite to the nearby Afşin-Elbistan power stations and the town is affected by air pollution from nearby coal-fired power stations, as well as smoke from landfill.
In the context of Kurdistan, ecocide is launched not only for looting resources, but also for the sake of destruction of any kind of resistance, in ignorance of the complexity of relations of different life forms that make life itself possible.
Pointing out that the war policies of the ruling powers cause ecological destruction, Rîhan Temo, Spokesperson of the Ecology Committee of Kongra Star, said that despite warnings for earthquakes, the Turkish state did not ensure the safety of the people
The Maras-centered earthquakes destroyed more than a hundred buildings in Syria and Rojava. 3,581 people lost their lives and 5,348 were injured. Thousands are still under the rubble in the Turkish-occupied areas as the death toll is not disclosed.
The HDP’s strength lies in its ability to mobilise and organise its large network of supporters and sympathisers and like-minded community organisations. As soon as they heard about the earthquake, the party dropped all other plans, set up a central coordination centre, and dispatched leading members to the affected area. Local election centres were transformed into coordination centres, while the youth organisation concentrated on rescue work. They put out calls for solidarity and for people with shelter and food to share with those without, and they helped create a framework to allow people’s natural solidarity to find direction.
