Feb 6, 2024 at 5:01 AM Update: 2 hours ago
Turkey commemorates its earthquake victims on Tuesday. A year after the devastating earthquakes, our reporter Nick Augusteijn visited the disaster area for the third time. Account of his journey through a country full of scars.
Twenty square meters: that is the ‘living space’ that Ayse and Menderes Simsek and their four children have at their disposal. Their apartment is no longer standing, just like most of the buildings in the town of Nurdagi in Gaziantep province. They have been staying in the living container for almost a year, which they mainly use as a place to sleep.
To get through the days, Menderes built a tent next to the container. There they have a kitchenette and some seating space. Ayse insists on making tea and breakfast. I manage to talk her out of that last part, but we’ll have tea. She asks if I have any laundry left. Because then she can wash it with her for a while.
The tent and living container of Ayse and Menderes Simsek in Nurdagi. Photo: NU.nl/ Nick Augusteijn
A day later I speak in Antakya in Hatay province with Memet Ali Durmaz and his niece Dilek from the Netherlands. A girl has just served the regional delicacy künefe with a big smile. From a container, because many entrepreneurs lost their business due to the earthquake. And daily life continues from those and other containers. Durmaz, like the Simsek family, no longer has a home and still wants to pay the bill. Fortunately, I can put a stop to that too.
Where there is no longer a house, the hospitality remains. Where buildings lie flat, cuisine, traditions and customs remain intact. They are small points of light and connection in cities and villages full of scars.
The earthquakes of February 6 in Turkey in figures
- The earthquakes on February 6, 2023 affected an area almost the size of the Netherlands and Belgium combined.
- About 53,500 people died in Turkey.
- More than 107,000 people were injured. There are also still missing people.
- Nearly 690,000 people still live in containers.
- The ground also shook in Syria. Many thousands of people died there too and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.
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New construction projects contrast with enormous damage
There are starting points in cities such as Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras. The damage was particularly enormous in the latter city and in the province of the same name. In the hills along the highway between Nurdagi and Kahramanmaras you see large new construction projects. Visible progress is also being made with the restoration of the railway line that runs along the road.
In the center of Kahramanmaras, the many bare spots in the city reveal the extent of the disaster. But here too there are construction sites and billboards for new construction projects. This also means that the dust clouds have not cleared up yet. First that of collapse, now that of reconstruction. A short walk can cause a sore throat.
In Gaziantep province the damage is locally enormous. Nurdagi, where the Simsek family lives, has been largely destroyed. The town of 40,000 inhabitants now largely consists of containers. Just like the school of Ayse Simsek’s children.
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Turkey is making significant progress in reconstruction after an earthquake
Uncertainty surrounding new homes
Just like at Kahramanmaras, a huge new housing estate is also being built at Nurdagi. A number of new apartment buildings are located right in front of the container of Ayse and her family. Confrontational, because she has no idea whether she qualifies for such a home. And if so, when.
In Antakya, Durmaz was able to obtain a rental apartment through contact. He now lives with his wife and two children on the outskirts of the city. His lease expires in August. Rents have risen considerably in the past year and those for safe homes have risen much more. There is no prospect of a new owner-occupied home in the city for the time being. The new projects that exist are under construction far outside the city and are also quite expensive. Also for people with a job like Durmaz.
ST, who does not want to be identified by his full name, is forced to live in his brother’s house in the village of Oymakli, near the border with Syria. Before that, he lived in a tent with his family and three children for four months. His home in the center of Antakya no longer exists and he has no idea how he will pay for a new home. Yet he considers himself lucky, because friends are in a container. Especially at this time of year there is a nuisance from mud and flooding in the container districts.
The uncertainty about where and when a new home will be available causes uncertainty and frustration within families. “Not everyone still has a title deed (the document you receive from the land registry after purchasing and with which you qualify for a home from government company TOKI, ed.),” says Durmaz. “And families that used to live together in the street or in the neighborhood have become dispersed. It is difficult to continue to see each other.”
Apartment buildings like this one are rising in countless places. Photo: NU.nl / Nick Augusteijn
What help does the Turkish government offer?
- The price for a new-build apartment from TOKI has been set at 1.5 million lira (45,712 euros). That amount applies to an apartment of approximately 100 square meters.
- The government pays sixty percent of this.
- You need a mortgage for the other half.
- You are exempt from mortgage payments for the first two years.
- This is followed by a ten-year repayment period without interest.
- The home is not automatically transferred to children.
Destruction in Antakya is unparalleled
Hatay province and the city of Antakya in particular suffered enormous damage. The city center and surrounding neighborhoods are largely in ruins. The demolition and clean-up work continues unabated, but the extent of the destruction is such that it seems to have no end in sight. The contrast with, for example, Kahramanmaras, which did not exactly remain untouched, is simply enormous.
The sound of excavators and hammer drills can be heard until the evening. It is dark in many places in the city. Here and there the street lights are working again, but of course there are no lights in the ruins of houses and buildings. This makes walking or driving, which is already difficult during the day, a real challenge. Also because streets sometimes no longer exist or are now mud paths strewn with rubble. These are just a few of the many inconveniences that residents still have to deal with on a daily basis.
Those same residents now look at the government with suspicion. There has been a sentiment for months that their province is being disadvantaged. Because people not en masse voted for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AKP. These concerns appear to be confirmed in the run-up to the local elections on March 31.
Last Friday, Erdogan said in veiled terms that “services” in Hatay depending on a vote for the AKP. The dust clouds may have cleared, but the dark clouds have not for a while.
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Years after earthquake in Turkey: ‘Sadness remains forever’
Reporter Nick Augusteijn
This report was written by reporter Nick Augusteijn. Nick has worked for NU.nl since 2017, including for the general news editorial team. He lives alternately in the Netherlands and Turkey and follows the news from that country closely.
The fact that you can look into the street here in Antakya is mainly thanks to the camera. Photo: NU.nl / Nick Augusteijn
2024-02-06 04:01:00
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