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I live in Turkey and was very close to the earthquake epicenter. I can say that communication in affected cities is very limited and Twitter had a real positive

by halilb 4y ago

I live in Turkey and was very close to the earthquake epicenter. I can say that communication in affected cities is very limited and Twitter had a real positive effect on organizing help and reaching out to lots of people in the area. So blocking Twitter right now is pure evil. They are only interested in the optics and looking strong for the upcoming election and do not care about anything else. I saw some people waiting for their relatives to get rescued around collapsed buildings dare to say that they haven't received any official help so far in the news. And they said that "government can come and arrest me for saying this - so be it". I don't think the Turkish government is reading HN but still feeling a little bit anxious while posting this after witnessing so many weird things here.

unityByFreedom 4y ago
It's a tragedy no nation should face alone. There should be no "looking bad" here, just opportunities to help. Why not embrace that and do whatever you can? Any city would face horrible losses in this situation. Heck, Miami lost half a building on a normal day...
- foronetimeonly1 4y ago
  [dead]
jrochkind1 4y ago
Do you think it will actually harm Erdogan's support though, anger over blocking twitter?
- widowlark 4y ago
  Is his popular support relevant when he has his hands on the levers of government operations?
  - jrochkind1 4y ago
    > Anger Over Quake Response Challenges Erdogan Ahead of Election > A furor is building among some survivors over the government’s handling of the crisis. “I have been voting for this government for 20 years, and I’m telling everyone about my anger,” said one. “I will never forgive them.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/11/world/europe/earthquake-turkey-erdogan-election.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/11/world/europe/earthquake-t...
  - dmix 4y ago
    I'm curious if Erdogan will attempt an I'm-president-until-I'm-dead move the way Putin and Xi Jinping did.
  - jrochkind1 4y ago
    I think it's probably relevant, yes -- he is in fact fairly popular, historically. (So is Putin). It's harder to keep your hands on the levers of power the less support you have, even if it can still be done with increasing force, it's a threat. But I'm interested in hearing with Turkish HN users think. Note that the comment I replied to, from a Turkish user, suggested "They are only interested in the optics and looking strong for the upcoming election", suggesting that, yes, Erdogan cares about popularity.
    - halilb 4y ago
      The upcoming election(on May 14th if it doesn't get postponed due to the earthquake) will be unique across other elections Erdogan participated in over the last 20 years. This was the first election he might actually lose(by a margin of 5-10%) according to election polls before the earthquake. So he did care about his popularity as he was the most popular one so far. Voters and the system were surely manipulated by the ruling party in the decade but opposing a decisive election result is a new line they haven't crossed yet.
  - trentearl 4y ago
    Yes it is relevant. He doesn't have his hands on all the levers yet.

by halilb 4y ago

unityByFreedom 4y ago

It's a tragedy no nation should face alone. There should be no "looking bad" here, just opportunities to help. Why not embrace that and do whatever you can? Any city would face horrible losses in this situation. Heck, Miami lost half a building on a normal day...

foronetimeonly1 4y ago
[dead]

jrochkind1 4y ago

Do you think it will actually harm Erdogan's support though, anger over blocking twitter?

widowlark 4y ago
Is his popular support relevant when he has his hands on the levers of government operations?
- jrochkind1 4y ago
  > Anger Over Quake Response Challenges Erdogan Ahead of Election > A furor is building among some survivors over the government’s handling of the crisis. “I have been voting for this government for 20 years, and I’m telling everyone about my anger,” said one. “I will never forgive them.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/11/world/europe/earthquake-turkey-erdogan-election.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/11/world/europe/earthquake-t...
- dmix 4y ago
  I'm curious if Erdogan will attempt an I'm-president-until-I'm-dead move the way Putin and Xi Jinping did.
- jrochkind1 4y ago
  I think it's probably relevant, yes -- he is in fact fairly popular, historically. (So is Putin). It's harder to keep your hands on the levers of power the less support you have, even if it can still be done with increasing force, it's a threat. But I'm interested in hearing with Turkish HN users think. Note that the comment I replied to, from a Turkish user, suggested "They are only interested in the optics and looking strong for the upcoming election", suggesting that, yes, Erdogan cares about popularity.
  - halilb 4y ago
    The upcoming election(on May 14th if it doesn't get postponed due to the earthquake) will be unique across other elections Erdogan participated in over the last 20 years. This was the first election he might actually lose(by a margin of 5-10%) according to election polls before the earthquake. So he did care about his popularity as he was the most popular one so far. Voters and the system were surely manipulated by the ruling party in the decade but opposing a decisive election result is a new line they haven't crossed yet.
- trentearl 4y ago
  Yes it is relevant. He doesn't have his hands on all the levers yet.