Where thousands of people were killed in a severe earthquake in southeastern Turkey almost a year ago, the hundreds of thousands of survivors are still living in containers to this day. The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had promised rapid reconstruction. The journalist Thomas Seibert, who lives in Istanbul, visited the earthquake zone.
SRF News: What is the situation in the earthquake area?
Thomas Seibert: The city of Adiyaman has not yet recovered from the disaster. Many streets are still blocked by collapsed buildings, and other houses are being demolished. In total, around 5,000 buildings in Adiyaman have either collapsed or have to be demolished. The people affected live in around a dozen container camps around the city, mostly without a job and without prospects.
What does this mean for the people affected?
Many are downright desperate. Up to five or more people have to live together in a container with an area of 21 square meters in the camps. There is damage to the container roofs and some are leaking.
It’s a hand to mouth life.
Although there are shops near the camps, the prices there are often much higher than in the supermarkets in the city. Many people travel to the center almost every day in completely overcrowded minibuses to get supplies. In short: it’s a hand-to-mouth life.
Legend:
Five or more people can be accommodated in a single container – and this has been the case for almost a year. Anger and a lack of prospects are spreading among them.
Imago/Muhammand Ata
How is the reconstruction promised by the government progressing?
If the government and the media affiliated with it are to be believed, things are actually moving forward. People are promised earthquake-proof houses. However: In total, hundreds of thousands of people lost their houses or apartments in the earthquakes, and it will take a correspondingly long time until new buildings are built for them. In addition, the authorities are concentrating heavily on this reconstruction, but acute problems such as a lack of water or sewage pipes remain.
How do people react to this situation?
Everywhere in Adiyaman, anger and despair at the difficult situation can be felt among the people affected.
The legal investigation into the earthquake disaster began this week. Defendants have to answer in court in connection with a collapsed hotel. What is it about?
Eleven building contractors and managers of the hotel where 72 people died are accused. According to the public prosecutor’s office, reports should prove that numerous building regulations were violated – for example when it comes to the composition of the concrete.
The pressure for a proper legal processing of the case is great.
The hotel is also said to have had one more floor than the building permit required. When the hotel collapsed, 40 young people from the Turkish part of Cyprus died – they had come for a volleyball tournament. The pressure for a proper legal processing of the case is correspondingly great.
How important is it for the victims of the earthquake and their families that those responsible for the disaster are named?
This is very crucial for many people who lost relatives or friends in the earthquake. But it is even more important for everyone that the state takes better care of them. One year after the disaster, it has practically disappeared from everyday life in Turkey. There are only sporadic reports from the earthquake area in the media. The people affected feel forgotten and abandoned.
Brigitte Kramer conducted the interview.