ece temelkuran, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, stephen.y is grappling with a humanitarian crisis of unimaginable scale. the death toll has now well passed 40,000, millions are displaced, and the government is saying that this is a time for national unity and solidarity. for you, as a very prominent critic of president erdogan, can you at least share that sentiment? well, there is a national unity. unfortunately, the government is out of this unity. they have to connect with people right now, because most of the people, well, i can say millions of people, are feeling like they are trying to help the victims of the earthquake despite the government. despite the regime's strong hand, who is trying to do everything on their own. how can you say that, when we all see the turkish emergency services on the scene across the south of the country, which has been devastated? we, indeed, see president erdogan himself making a point of going there, embracing those who have suffered, victims of the quake, the homeless. his signal to the nation is clear.

my guest is long standing erdogan critic, the exiled turkish writer ece temelkuran.