Leaving The Dead Behind: How Quake Hit Turkish Areas Are Limping Back To Normal

Almost a month has passed since the devastating Turkey-Syria earthquakes. Teams that came from different countries for relief work have now returned. Besides local journalists, TV cameras and journalists are now disappearing from these areas. But I am here after three weeks to understand the situation, how the people are living, and in what ways they are being helped. And what plans do the helpers have for the future?

I am in Antakya city. The devastating earthquake destroyed this historical city. The earthquake has reportedly affected this city the most. There are the graves of thousands of people in front of my eyes, and hundreds of moist eyes and broken hearts around them, whose families and relatives are still being buried here. I don¡¯t know why, but with a very heavy heart, I took out the mobile phone lying in my pocket and clicked a picture.

Afroz Alam Sahil

But as soon as I clicked a photo, a military man asked me to delete it. I deleted the photo immediately. The soldier deleted this photo from my mobile's trash bin too. One of my friends standing nearby told me that in any civilized country, taking pictures of a mass grave is not allowed. Then the eyes of all the people standing around me got watery. I too went ahead with tears in my eyes, thinking that I wish my teachers had also taught us that one should not click pictures in such situations.

Allah might have saved me because...

At the centre of the city of Antakya, the scenes here shook me to my core. A young girl is crying while sitting on the side of the road near a house. Everything is over around her. In the Haraparasi Mahallesi market of Antakya, Durmu?, about 40 years old, somehow opens the shutters of his shop to collect the remaining goods, but there is nothing left in the shop. In this shop, he used to sell computers, CCTV cameras, and items related to the petrol pump.

Afroz Alam Sahil

Durmu? lost 23 of his relatives in this devastating earthquake. He says that he lived on the third floor of a three-storey building. When he opened his eyes, he found himself on the surface of the ground. Then he, along with his doctor wife, pulled out about a hundred people from the debris, many of whom had already died.

Durmu? said that Allah might have saved him because he was involved in the earthquake relief work in Afghanistan as a volunteer with the team of Turkey's humanitarian aid organization, '?HH Insani Yard?m Vakf?'. Besides, he also helped the earthquake victims with money.

Afroz Alam Sahil

Here, a person named Niazi told me that there were six flats in his three-floor building. But when he woke up, all three flats on one side had fallen. But the flat on his side was saved. Somehow his family got out of the house, and now he is heartbroken that his house too has become completely ruined. According to him, this earthquake killed six people in his building.

Like Durmu? and Niazi, everyone in this city has their own painful story. But now my heart and mind were peculiar about understanding how the governments and non-governmental organizations here are helping the people affected by the earthquake.

How are people being helped?

The Turkish army and local police are deployed for security in the entire city of Antakya. Tents of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority 'AFAD' are installed at various places. And the families of the victims are settled in these tents. Along with this, tents are also seen in almost every Belediye (municipality) in Istanbul, which is working to help the people. Here, the camp of the UNCHR is also visible in many places.

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The humanitarian organization 'K?z?lay', which works with the Turkish government, the International Red Cross, and the Red Crescent Movement, is also present everywhere here. Apart from this, various non-governmental organizations here are working with the government to heal the wounds of the affected people. They are busy helping people in every possible way. It should be noted that Turkey has one clear guideline for such a disaster, which is called the Turkish Disaster Response Plan, which was prepared with the help of scientists. Within the framework of this plan, it is clear which department of the government will work with which stakeholders.

The government has given its schools to non-governmental organizations here, especially to '?HH Insani Yard?m Vakf?' i.e. IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, where their teams have kept the goods to be distributed among the people. Food is also cooked in these schools, where people living in nearby camps come, sit, and eat.

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M¨¹cahit Demir, who is in charge of these centers of ?HH, says that food is cooked for about three to four thousand people in each center, and the same number of people come to these centers and eat here. AFAD tells us where we have to deliver food to how many people, and after telling them, our people deliver food there,' he adds.

According to Mustafa ?zbek, ?HH's board member, responsible for media and public relations, ?HH has set up 21 logistics centers in 10 provinces affected by the earthquake. 14 soup kitchens have been established. Apart from this, there are also 4 mobile soup kitchens. About six thousand ?HH's SAR Workers and Aid Distribution Volunteers are engaged to help more people.

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In a long conversation, Mustafa ?zbek says, "The damage we suffered is beyond imagination and expression. More than 40 thousand people have passed away, affecting more than 10 million people directly, leaving a heartbreaking feeling in our hearts and the hearts of the Turkish people as a whole. So, we cannot just talk about the physical damage while overlooking the emotional one."

Muhammed Mehdi Pertekli, Head of Foreign Affairs of the European Youth Association, Avrupa Gen?lik Derne?i (AGD), says, "The recent earthquake is a catastrophic incident that can appear once in a century."

Mehdi explains that as part of the Milli G?r¨¹? Movement and its sister organizations, they have established together 12 logistics centers and other pick-up locations in the disaster area. "We provided services to all neighborhoods and villages with over 4000 young volunteer members and 100 vehicles and met their basic needs. Besides these, we have served over 1.5 million hot meals.

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The Priest of St. Peter and St. Paul Church, Fr. Francis Dondu says that things were terrible here for the first two days. People had only one complaint: that nothing was going on and no help was coming. However, no one has this complaint anymore because the Turkish government is doing an excellent job.

He further says, "I know that, as human beings, we are not prepared for such tragedies. Perhaps no one was ready for this. Roads were broken, and many buildings had fallen on the way. That's why there was a delay in providing help to the people here. Now a lot of activities to help the victims are happening here".

Fr. Francis Dondu originally belongs to the Karnataka state of India. He has been living here for the last 18 years. The Catholic Church in which he lived, also became a victim of this devastating earthquake. Then he had to move to the emergency camp of a school with his family.

No One Asks About Anyone's Religion Here

Fr. Francis Dondu says that they were in the church that day. Five families lived on the church premises.

Fr. Francis Dondu

"We were all sleeping. When the building started shaking, we came out on the road. It was raining outside. But in the same situation, we wanted to save the people who were in trouble by any possible means. Although we had nothing. I contacted people from churches around me, and it took two days for them to reach us. Hence, we remained without food for two days".

He further says that all the people here are helping each other without looking at anyone¡¯s religious faith or sect. "No one asks about anyone's religion. I was also involved in taking out dead bodies and trying to save people with the rescue personnel. We took out the bodies and buried them. My companions went to safer places after three days, but I remained in Antakya for two weeks. But right now, I am in a Catholic church in Mersin. It is a small church, but their hearts are very big. There are about ninety families here. There is no problem with food or drink here", he adds.

Now, what is the plan ahead?

AGD's Muhammed Mehdi Pertekli says, "We plan to serve these services until the victims settle down." On the other hand, Mustafa ?zbek of ?HH says, "People are now afraid to enter their homes. These include those houses, in which nothing has been damaged. In such a situation, a long study and plenty of time will be required to keep all these people, and till then they will live in tents and containers. Some of them may have gone to relatives or other provinces, but we must continue to meet the needs of the people until they go to permanent residence".

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He further says, "As the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, we plan to expand our search and rescue capacities, both in terms of staff members and equipment. In addition, we will continue to support earthquake victims until all the suffering ends. The material and psychosocial support activities will continue to the best of our abilities."

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an on Tuesday, February 28, again reiterated the government's pledge to build new homes for earthquake victims within a year. He said in a statement, "We have started to work on the necessary construction of our cities. We will be starting the construction of 309,000 houses in a few months. We ask you to give us one year for this." He also said that the government will work with all its strength not to witness such a scenario again where buildings collapse and people die in the rubble and will accelerate urban transformation works in all cities under earthquake threat.

Operation Dost

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The Indian team that came here under 'Operation Dost' has also returned. But it is still present in the memories of the people here. Expressing gratitude, Muhammed Mehdi Pertekli says the Indian team did tremendous work that was of vital importance to the victims. Apart from the search and rescue teams, they achieved what not everyone could do with the Sahara hospital they established. He says that people are grateful for this work.

Mustafa ?zbek says, "It¡¯s a huge act of solidarity when we think about the fact that over 250 trained Indian personnel, along with specialized equipment, vehicles, and relief material, have actively worked in search and rescue operations and provided medical treatment. We thank the Indian government on behalf of the Turkish people for their help and interest".

Whereas, Fr Francis Dondu says, "We were very happy with the Indian embassy and the people who were working there. They were very well coordinated and supplied us with food in Antakya. We are grateful for their help and willingness to help and cooperate with us. Otherwise, being a foreigner, it becomes difficult to work with the infrastructure problems and logistics, but they were very well coordinated, and they did their best.¡±

Antakya, The Historical City Belongs to Everyone

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Antakya is the capital of Hatay Province, the southernmost province of Turkey. It has always been a very important and famous city in the records of history. According to information available on the internet, the city of Antakya was founded in 300 BC, after the death of Alexander, by the Hellenistic Seleucid King Seleucus I Nicator (321¨C281). It became the capital of the Seleucid Empire, stretching from Macedonia nearly to India.

Fr. Francis Dondu explains, "We had four churches in Antakya. In the first earthquake where I lived, the building of the church did not collapse, it had cracks, but in the second earthquake that happened on February 20, many of the walls of the building collapsed. Most of the churches in other places were destroyed. The mosque in Antakya was also destroyed. In our Catholic Church, there was a little minaret, and there was a little cross, and beside the mosque, there was a synagogue. So, people used to come and take photos because it symbolized unity. From the church, one could see the minaret, and from the minaret, one could see a synagogue. All three religions of the world were in one line. That was the reason to proclaim the message that we all belong to one God and we are all brothers and sisters".

"Antakya is a place where Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Sunnis, Shias, Alevis, and Jews all lived with the same motto that there is one God and we are all brothers and sisters, and in this difficult time, we have become closer to each other. We all stand shoulder to shoulder with each other", adds Fr. Francis Dondu.

The writer is a freelance contributor currently living in Turkey.