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Drama continues: Turkish health minister
besieged by angry Kurds
11.1.2006
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Turkey's health minister had to be protected by
police as he was besieged yesterday on a visit to
the Kurdish town where two children have died from
bird flu. Amid snow and a biting wind, Recep Akdag
encountered fury from locals who accused the
government of neglecting them because they were from
the Kurdish minority.
Having prayed with the father of the deceased
children and done his best to assure the people of
Dogubeyazit that they had not been forgotten, the
minister was booed as he tried to board a bus to
depart.
The crowd shouted: "We need doctors" and "Go see our
villages with the dead chickens where no one dares
to step".
A local Kurdish leader said they were receiving help
only from sympathetic municipal workers, struggling
to visit every house in their white hygiene suits.
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Vladimir van Wilgenburg
Student/Journalist - Netherlands |
He pointed to a group of farmers who had gathered in
front of the local council building, clutching bags
of chickens. "Look, people are bringing their
chickens here themselves," said Mehmet Gultekin.
"They are working while the government workers
sleep."
While most Muslims feast during the Islamic
celebration Eid Al-Adha, the Kurdish Kocyigit family
mourns at a cemetery during the Eid Al-Adha ceremony
in Dogubayazit.
All those who have contracted the virus have been in
close contact with sick birds. The two children who
died were brother and sister. A third sibling has
also died but the cause of death in this instance
has not been confirmed.
It took the minister a week after the first victim
was diagnosed to visit Dogubeyazit, situated in a
remote mountain region near the Iranian border. He
was accompanied by a delegation of experts from the
World Health Organization (WHO).
The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, pleaded
for people to hand over sick birds to the
authorities for slaughter.
"I especially request citizens who are still keeping
fowl to report to the authorities if they encounter
any trouble, and if there is trouble, to opt for
slaughter," he said, after reports that some poor
farmers were hiding their poultry. Later he said,
that the bird flu crisis is solved live on
television. This despite WHO experts earlier said,
that the crisis isn't solved yet, but could be
solved easily.
The Bird Flu expanded itself to the rich West and
South of Turkey too. We will see if the Bird Flu
crisis will be equally treated. Although people
criticize Turkey for their treatment of the Bird
flue, a Turkish doctor said there "are thousands of
villages with poultry. The Turkish government
couldn't possible stop the outbreak of Bird Flu". I
agree, it was hard to stop the outbreak, but the
Turkish government certainly failed to stop the
current outbreak and maybe the death of three
children! This despite CNN-Türk reported WHO
officials said the Turkish government, did what they
could.
Rasti reported this earlier, but I will repeat this
historical news of the Washington Post again: "There
where chickens had been reported dying last month in
the poor village of Dogubayazit. Officials
apparently did not report the bird flu outbreak in
the village of Dogubayazit last month, despite
indications that birds in the vicinity had
contracted the disease. International health
officials were reluctant to criticize the Ankara
government."
Sources: Rasti, Azady, AFP, The Daily Telegraph
report by Kate Connolly
http://vladimirkurdistan.blogspot.com
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