The Confederation of Public Employees Unions (KESK) has compiled a report on its investigations in the earthquake area. KESK Co-Chairman Mehmet Bozgeyik said, “After the earthquake, due to reasons such as the late arrival of the state, the fact that tent cities and container cities are still insufficient, and the winter weather is freezing, there is a migration similar to the migration of tribes. Instead of taking precautions and meeting needs, it is obvious that the government encourages migrations or just watches if we are to take it in good faith. We don’t know if it is a plan for the elections by thinking ‘this is an opportunity’ or whether different social engineering is being performed in the long term.”
7 March 2023 20:02
The Confederation of Public Employees Unions (KESK) announced the 4th Earthquake Report at its headquarters in Ankara. In the report prepared from the field studies of the KESK delegation, it was pointed out that although a month has passed since the earthquake, the basic problems have still not been solved. Housing, health, and other basic needs problems are tried to be solved through non-governmental organizations, associations, and unions, the statement said, adding that the state should take action to eliminate these problems as soon as possible. KESK Co-Chairman Mehmet Bozgeyik read the report in the press conference.
In the statement made before the presentation of the report, the officials pointed out how the destruction created by the “one man” regime and how the state institutions were emptied of their assets by corruption. In the statement, “Everyone saw more clearly through the events after the earthquake how hollow the justification of ‘let’s do things faster,’ which has become the motto of the ‘one man’ regime, has become meaningless, and that ineptitude and bureaucracy have become the main character of the regime. Another thing that is clear is why the state of emergency was declared! In order to prevent the exposure of the policies that caused the consequences of the earthquake to be so severe, fundamental rights and freedoms were put under siege by the state of emergency. In Istanbul, the police attacked on those who wanted to protest against the sale of donated tents by Kızılay-the Red Crescent, similar to the relief organization the Red Cross in the West, including many of our union branch managers and members. These assaults which were neither humane, moral, nor legal, and the government’s policies that led to the aggravation of the consequences of the earthquake, once again showed the fascistic face of the government and the purpose of the state of emergency. The state, which was missing in action after the earthquake, is now available with its shields, clubs, gas, and prisons.”
In the statement, it was stated that “Due to March 8, the women of KESK carried out a unique study, especially for the women victims of the earthquake, and delivered the aid kits they collected to the earthquake regions.” Regarding the work of health workers, the report said:
Our friends who are health professionals, psychologists, guidance counselors, and drama instructors also carry out social programs and studies for children.
Our affiliated union SES (The Union of Health Care and Social Services Workers) and TTB (The Association of Turkish Doctors), carry out voluntary health services for the public in all provinces. In addition to providing examination and medicine support to those who come to the health cabin, multidimensional studies such as information on preventive health services, health screenings, inspections of the tent conditions, activities for inspecting and chlorinating water, information studies for the proper disposal of garbage, and informing villages about how septic tank pits should be, are carried out within the scope of field studies. We try to determine whether tent cities are established as a healthy living spaces, how many people stay in tents, what their condition is, what kind of health problems are experienced, whether there is an infection, whether there is a shortage of medicines, etc. Infections of lice are examined in children, and examinations and treatments are carried out to prevent lice and scabies from turning into a pandemic. Again, in terms of psycho-social support, there is professional staff such as psychologists and social workers in the teams of our union SES, interviews are held with those in need, and referral activities are carried out. The findings and the observed problems are transferred to the local administrators and ministries by our union SES as they try to contribute to the solution of these problems.
In the report, the observed problems in the earthquake region and those included in the emergency action plan were listed as follows:
• There are intense criticisms and evaluations that there is a multifaceted discrimination in the government’s work in earthquake regions. Prejudice based on ethnic identity, sect, opposition identity, gender, and anti-refugee discrimination is being added to the difficulties created by the earthquake as new fractures, such as the deepening of social fault lines. The fact that even the earthquake did not lead the government to question its discriminatory policy in the slightest by looking at its ideological philosophy, capitalist mentality, and single-minded understanding will lead us to more objective conclusions.
• Due to reasons such as the late arrival of the state after the earthquake, the fact that tent cities and container cities are still insufficient, and the freezing winter weather is causing a migration like the migration of tribes. Instead of taking measures on the spot and meeting the needs, we see that the government encourages migration or simply stands by and watches if we were to take it in good faith. We do not know whether the “let’s use this opportunity” is a plan for the elections or whether different social engineering is being performed in the long term. The practices of one-man regimes in erasing social memory exacerbate this threat in the aftermath of the earthquake.
• Official institutions affiliated with the government, especially AFAD (the Official relief, search and rescue organization) Provincial Directorates, do not cooperate with NGOs on the work done for earthquake victims, and NGOs face serious obstacles in some places. The central government’s stance of not cooperating with local governments run by opposition parties continues. The appointed coordinating governors are more concerned with security issues.
• There are serious problems in accessing health services in the places most affected by the earthquake. The danger of epidemics has arisen in many places due to reasons such as the fact that even the need for tent problem has not been fully solved. The pollution of the waters, the weather, or the fact that the bathroom and toilet problem in the newly created tent or container cities is far from the needed standards.
• Almost all of the Family Health Centers (ASMs) in earthquake zones are closed because some of them have been destroyed and some of them have become severely damaged. Those with partial damage are starting to open. However, since the workers working in these places are also earthquake victims, their trauma continues.
• Due to the cold weather, stoves are used especially at night, and poor-quality coal is used in these stoves. When the crowdedness of the tents is added to this situation, a serious increase in upper respiratory tract infections is observed.
• In general, the toilet and bathroom problem continues. There are no mobile toilets in the villages. There are not enough toilets in crowded districts or provinces, and in most places, there is pollution that threatens health due to the lack of regular cleaning of toilets. The insufficient number of bathrooms also prepares the ground for scabies and lice outbreaks.
• If detergents can be found in the villages, the laundry is washed by hand with carried water. A bath can be taken in a tent with a boiler heated water. There are people who have not been able to take a bath since the day of the earthquake. In some villages, lice and scabies infections have already begun.
• The roads of the villages in the north of Pazarcık district were damaged by landslides due to being in deep valleys and streams, and the roads connecting the regions were closed due to falling rocks. Due to the ongoing aftershocks, there is a danger of landslides on these steep slopes that will endanger human and animal life.
• The body of the Kartalkaya Dam was damaged by the earthquake, some of the irrigation wells in the region dried up, and some started to flow with mud. As a result of the destruction caused by the earthquake on the soil surface, the crops have been damaged, and the drainage and irrigation channels have become unusable. Although the main water flows, it has been seen that the water is decreasing in some villages of Pazarcık, and in some villages, it cannot be used as drinking water considering the health risks.
• Especially in places such as Hatay and İskenderun, there are serious problems in accessing clean water.
• Problems continue in terms of environmental cleanliness and garbage collection.
• Follow-up of pregnant women and vaccination of children has almost stopped.
• The male concentration of the volunteer network has led to a more male-oriented distribution of aid. It has been observed that it is more difficult for women to express their problems and needs. In this sense, the participation of volunteer women in field studies is important. For this reason, women from KESK and other women’s organizations have started a multi-faceted work in the earthquake regions in the run-up to March 8, international women’s day.
• It was determined that the access of women staying in villages to cleaning and hygiene materials was more limited than in the city centers. In general, it has been observed that cases of urinary tract infection and irregular menstrual bleeding, which are thought to be due to stress, are intense in women.
• It is seen that the children staying with their families in the tent do not want to be separated from their mothers and develop crying and withdrawal reactions. Although this situation is accepted as a normal reaction at this stage, depending on the magnitude of the disaster, psychosocial support activities should be planned and implemented urgently. Although KESK Volunteers carry out creative drama activities, painting, storytelling, film screening, and educational play activities with children in many provinces and districts, there is a need for this to be implemented more fully and within a program.
• Feelings of anxiety, burnout, and helplessness constitute the dominant theme of the psychological state observed in the public.
• There are intense complaints and assessments that the rubble is indiscriminately deposited in the creek beds without even checking if there are corpses and that asbestos and a large number of hazardous wastes are found in the building debris. It is known that these wastes will cause serious problems for all living things. Therefore, building debris must be considered hazardous waste, and the relevant procedure must be followed.
• Eighty percent of the heavily damaged buildings, especially in Hatay, have not been touched yet, and these buildings pose a great risk due to the continuation of the aftershocks. It is unknown whether there were any bodies in the unremoved debris. Most of the neighborhood breaks and alleyways are still closed by the debris of the collapsed buildings. There are neighborhoods in Hatay where no work has even started.
• Local governments are experiencing serious difficulties in managing the process. Since there is no organization among the people, such as functional city councils, neighborhood councils, committees, etc., the people are in an unorganized situation, and today there are problems in weaving the future together and establishing living spaces together despite well-intentioned efforts and initiatives.
• Land and real estate speculators are well established. We have also received news that desperate earthquake victims whose buildings were destroyed or damaged and migrated to other provinces needing emergency funds were sought by the speculators, and their properties were bought at very cheap prices. The president of the Hatay judicial bar association stated to our delegation that thousands of properties had been sold so far and that, as the bar associations and other labor and professional organizations, they sent a letter to the President of the Republic requesting that the sale of land and properties be temporarily stopped.
• The human-centered approach is also encountered in the earthquake aid efforts. The earthquake has led to the destruction of many living and inanimate beings. In addition to the destruction of tens or hundreds of thousands of farm animals, street animals have also suffered serious harm from the earthquake. It is known that a large number of animals have died, especially in the villages. Animals need feed, and veterinarians are needed in villages. Our union TARIM ORKAM-SEN is carrying out a serious work on this issue, but there are still many villages that have not been reached.
• Issues such as soil preparation, seed, and fertilizer supply for summer plantings stand before us as the priority issues. The service buildings belonging to some Agricultural Credit Cooperatives were demolished, and fertilizer, feed, medicine, fuel oil, seeds, etc., in the warehouses were left under the rubble. There is a concern among farmers against the possibility of the formation of sinkholes in lowland villages where irrigated agriculture is carried out, and no scientific explanations have yet been given to farmers about whether there is a possibility of the formation of sinkholes.
• In the provinces where earthquake victims migrate, they are primarily in an effort to hold on to life through solidarity efforts. Finding a home and a job has become the most basic problem. Rental prices have risen to terrible levels. Uncertainty about the future has turned into a social trauma. Those who have to migrate to cities such as Istanbul and Izmir experience serious psychological problems with the concern that there may be an earthquake in these cities.
• No official institution meets the earthquake victims who migrate to other provinces and no records are kept. Regular up-to-date information is not provided by official institutions for earthquake victims.
• Although the hotels meet the breakfast needs of the earthquake victims who settle in the hotels, the survivors must provide their own lunch and dinner.
• It is often stated that young people who will take the entrance exam for high schools or universities cannot focus on the exam or studying. This also applies to the adaptation of those who go out of the province and their future in general.
“Our country has also entered the election atmosphere,” the statement said.
We are also witnessing attempts by the government to manipulate the opposition, divide, and disperse the opposition coalition attempts. So, we have a messy situation. This environment should not be allowed to prevent the implementation of emergency action plans where earthquakes are likely and avoid healing the wounds of the earthquake zones.
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