The government’s guilt over Turkey’s devastation

Early last week I bought myself a teapot. I have several, but I could not resist this with its turquoise Mediterranean charm. Alongside I purchased tea glasses — not mugs or cups, but glasses. The Turkish way. It comes with a milk jug. The English way. Excited to use them for the first time early in the morning, I went to the kitchen where I found my 74-year-old mother, who was visiting us from Ankara. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. She spoke in a voice so low that I struggled to hear at first. ‘There has been an earthquake.’ The glass in my hand felt small and fragile. We both knew what the next question was: ‘Did anyone die?’ I asked. She started crying again.

As I write these words the death toll from the twin earthquakes in southern Turkey and northern Syria is close to 40,000, though the full scale of devastation is still unknown and the real number is estimated to be at least twice as high.