Turkey: One year after the disaster - survival in ghost towns

2024-02-06 15:13:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

On February 6, 2023, southeast Turkey and northern Syria were rocked by a powerful earthquake. According to official data, more than 50,000 people died from the earthquake, more than 125,000 were injured. The city of Hatay on the border with Syria was the most affected by the earthquake. Where the rubble and debris have been removed, there is nothing left. Many neighborhoods of Hatay have turned into ghost neighborhoods.

Provisional life becomes permanent

After the earthquake many residents left, those who have stayed live largely in containers, which were meant to be temporary shelters. About 200 of them rose rapidly in the area around Hatay. More than 187,000 people have found shelter there. Today the discontent is great. Residents complain that there is too little room in the containers. Whole families live in many of them. Serap Selcuk shares a container with two children and five other people. She says that they asked for a second container, but they have not yet received an answer. "The living conditions are difficult," the teacher told DW. "The children and I have great difficulty finding ourselves here." Meryem Kataras also lives in temporary shelters. "Life here is hard, but we are trying to do our best," says Mereym, a mother of three. Water and electricity are often lacking.

Turkey: One year after the disaster - survival in ghost towns

In the first days after the earthquake, people were given free food and other items, but humanitarian aid has now been cut off. Serap Selcuk reports that he has received only two aid packages from the Turkish Disaster Authority, AFAD. This authority came under fire in the days after the earthquake for not reacting in time.

In Hatay, the problem is not only the lack of water and electricity, but also the damaged roads. Some of them are impassable, and when it rains, the problem becomes difficult, because the water does not flow. Serap Selcuk also complains about the increasing criminality. At first, police and guards looked after the container village "Today there are only a few cameras," says Serap. "A few days ago someone threatened a resident with a gun." No one intervened.

Only 25 apartments ready

The construction of new apartments in Hatay shows how slow the reconstruction is. The plan was to build 45,000 new apartments. But only 2600 of them are before completion. Only 25 apartments are ready to move in, according to official data. Meryem Kataras says that the number of new constructions is not enough. The buildings have been moved to a remote part of the city, they are still unfinished and the roads are not ready. "It seems impossible to help all those affected here," says Karatas, who had her own home before the earthquake.

Turkey: One year after the disaster - survival in ghost towns

Many residents want to stay in Hatay, like Mustafa Bayir. "I didn't run away from my city after the earthquake. But the state has left Hatay to its fate," he says. Mustafai lives with the naval family in a small container. "We had an apartment of 179 square meters. Now we have to live in 21 square meters," confesses 70-year-old Abudlsamet Pulat. However, he is grateful to the state. "We didn't die of hunger or thirst, at least we had a shelter over our heads."

Many do not return

Even in Hatay's industrial area, 95% of the buildings were destroyed. Ethem Icer, the baker, has reopened the shop in an almost destroyed building. The number of customers has dropped significantly since the earthquake, he says. Instead of the 4,000 loaves he used to sell, today he sells only 1,000. Out of seven workers, he has only one left. Ethemi is angry with the state that small shopkeepers like him do not receive aid.

Turkey: One year after the disaster - survival in ghost towns

"The state has forgotten us," mechanic Levent Icency tells DW. "Many people want to work again, but they are not supported enough by the state. We used to have very good masters here. But they have left now and are not coming back. This is a great loss." Even the taxi driver Ekrem Özturk is the last of the 15 drivers of his enterprise. "Many say that things have normalized here," says Ekremi. "But that's not true. Sometimes I wish I had died from the earthquake. I wouldn't have to see everything like this today."/ DW