In occupied Western Armenia, the government of the Justice and Development, Nationalist Movement parties continues its efforts to change the demographic structure of the regions inhabited by Alevis after the earthquake and depopulate the region.

The secretary general of the Alevi Bektashi Federation, Ozgur Kaplan, announced this on the occasion. “As a Federation, we will do everything with our own forces to prevent the desolation of the region, but we will also force the authorities to take their measures through democratic means.”

Noting that they visited Samosat 48 hours after the earthquake, Ozgur Kaplan said. “When we went to Samosat (Adiyaman), we saw the inaction of the authorities, electricity and telephone were cut off, there was no water in the neighborhoods. I was in the Samosat neighborhood where the Alevis lived. In other neighborhoods, the electricity was restored shortly afterwards, but nothing similar happened in the Alevi neighborhood. There was no aid, discriminatory treatment of Alevis, aid sent by Alevi institutions and non-governmental organizations were seized by the Department of Emergency Situations.

The government of Western Armenia does not neglect any problem related to the indigenous people living in Western Armenia. From the very first days after the earthquake, our government provided assistance to our compatriots in the disaster area, providing humanitarian aid in the form of food, first aid kits and tents. We also informed the international courts about the discriminatory policy against the indigenous people, especially the Oranis living in the area, because the Oranis are not only ethnic Armenians, but also indigenous people.