Turkey remembers thousands who died one year on from earthquake

People in Turkey threw carnations into a river as they marked the one-year anniversary of the country’s catastrophic earthquake (Metin Yoksu/AP)

Millions of people across Turkey have mourned the loss of more than 53,000 friends, loved ones and neighbours in the country’s catastrophic earthquake a year ago.

To mark what it calls the Disaster of the Century, the government arranged a series of events to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the disaster in southern Turkey.

In Antakya, the capital of the southern province of Hatay, angry crowds jostled with police as officials were led to the commemorations.

Mayor Lutfu Savas was greeted with chants calling for him to resign, while health minister Fahrettin Koca was jeered and booed as he gave a speech.

People visit graves in a cemetery where some of the victims of the earthquake are buried (Metin Yoksu/AP)

Amid the fog by the Orontes River, people chanted “Can anyone hear me?” — echoing the voices of those buried under the rubble a year ago — and “We won’t forget, we won’t forgive”.

“Some of us were buried alive,” said Mustafa Bahadirli, a 24-year-old in Antakya. “We called our government ‘father’ but the government left us without a father. We were abandoned for days and are still abandoned.”

Sebnem Yesil, 22, criticised both the government and opposition politicians such as Mr Savas.

“I think they have been extremely disrespectful,” she said. “It has been a year, they never came and now they’re here for a ceremony… You didn’t hear our voices, you didn’t help, at least let us grieve.”

People across Turkey mourned the loss of loved ones (Metin Yoksu/AP)

After a moment of silence at 4.17am to mark the time the quake struck, carnations were tossed into the river in an act of remembrance and a local orchestra played a song to honour the victims.

Hatay, which lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the Syrian border, was the worst affected of the 11 southern provinces hit by the 7.8 magnitude quake. Including the 6,000 people killed in neighbouring Syria, the quake left more than 59,000 dead.

Crowds in Adiyaman held a silent march, passing a clock tower that for the past year has shown the time of the earthquake.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was visiting Kahramanmaras, the quake’s epicentre, to inspect the work being done to rebuild the city and rehouse thousands who remain in tents and prefabricated containers.

In a social media post, Mr Erdogan said the loss from the disaster “continues to burn our hearts as fresh as the first day”, adding: “Thank God, our nation has successfully passed this painful and historical test.”