Even as the death toll climbs towards 40,000, Turkish dictator President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is using the earthquake disaster as a weapon in his ongoing war on the Kurdish people, according to Zerebar Karimi, a Kurdish community emergency aid campaigner in Australia.
This is because the worst hit areas are mainly where the Kurdish population lives.
The Turkish government is being widely condemned for failing to deliver emergency assistance promptly. It has responded by waging a campaign of intimidation and censorship in a desperate attempt to silence its critics.
Kurdish communities around the world are calling for donations to Heyva Sor a Kurdistanê (Kurdish Red Crescent) so that it can get to those people in most desperate need.
[Donations to Heyva Sor a Kurdistanê can be made here.]