The earthquake in Turkey and Syria is one of the worst natural disasters of this century. The death toll has now risen to a staggering thirty-five thousand people — though that number is expected to rise significantly. Tens of thousands more have been injured, overwhelming the already-strained hospitals in Syria and Turkey. Large swaths of Northern Syria and Southern Turkey have been reduced to rubble, and millions are in desperate need of humanitarian relief.

Yet even in the immediate aftermath of this humanitarian crisis, at a time when resources, personnel, and state assistance is gravely needed, Turkey continues to attack the Kurds. According to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and statements from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), on February 12 (less than one week after the earthquake), Turkey bombed an SDF vehicle in Kobanî, a Kurdish-majority city in Northern Syria, and bombed Kurdish forces in Tel Rifaat, north of Aleppo. There is no indication that these bombings are going to stop.

In sharp contrast to Turkey’s abysmal, dysfunctional initial response to the earthquake, Turkish militarism seems as functional as ever.