Photo: Bulgaria ON AIR
17,480 were the victims of the 1999 earthquake in the region of Izmit, Turkey. Has Turkey learned a lesson from 1999?
“It was widely commented after the earthquake of 1999, but judging by what we are currently seeing in South-East Turkey, although everything looks good on paper, the state has not been able to learn its lesson. The reason can also be sought in the political dimension that remains in the background. The Air Force on Thursday published a report by the regional ministry in Turkey, which stated that more than 50% of buildings in Turkey do not meet the standards,” he said on the Brussels 1 broadcast Bulgaria ON AIR journalist Taifur Hussain.
“After the earthquake in 1999, the state took a number of measures. They introduced new standards for the design of structures, they also introduced an ‘earthquake’ tax, which is quite atypical as an idea. This is money collected from the people in order to strengthen old buildings . Whether this fund was used rationally, I cannot say, but as a measure it is in the right direction,” said Asparuh Delev from the National Association of Construction Entrepreneurs in our country.
“Turkey is an earthquake zone and the issue of the so-called ‘earthquake’ tax is always raised after such a disaster. The amount is currently reported to be over 80 billion Turkish Lira. This is a huge figure and it allows a lot to be done in this regard, for so that the scale of a disaster would not be so devastating. On the other hand, the political point of this tax is the lack of transparency. There are no answers and reports on how this money is spent. Erdogan himself in response to this question asked by opposition leader Kemal Kulçdaroğlu, replied that he was not obliged to give an account to “bye Kemal”, Taifur Husein explained in a conversation with host Milena Milotinova.
“The main reason for the high death toll is the magnitude of the earthquake. Earthquakes above 7 on the Richter scale are those that cause destruction. Unfortunately, when it comes to buildings, construction also plays a big role. First, older buildings are more vulnerable – those that do not meet modern building requirements and earthquake codes. For example, the ancient fortress in Gaziantep, which has stood for centuries, is currently in ruins. However, the problem is the presence of buildings built according to modern codes and requirements that have not withstood this earthquake. Turkey has voluntarily joined the European construction standard, but still we see massive destruction. To have a quality product, several factors are needed – quality design, quality materials and quality implementation. Missing only one of the three leads to a similar result. Turkey has a good engineering school with quite good earthquake specialists. The projects are at a good level . Since the previous earthquake in 1999, there have been publications about poor quality materials and poorly executed technology. There were also convicts. With such large-scale destruction and such disparity in the destruction, there is a reason and, unfortunately, it may be in the construction,” explained Asparukh Delev and added:
“This is a huge challenge for the country’s industry for the coming years. The territory of the current earthquake is comparable to the territory of the whole of Bulgaria. Officially, the destroyed houses from the last earthquake are about 250,000. Statistically, 20,000 houses are built in Bulgaria every year. Of course, Turkey is a big country, but these hundreds of thousands of homes lost will present huge challenges to the industry. Such a disaster leaves millions of people homeless.”
According to Delev, the first measures Turkey should take is to examine whether the standing buildings are safe and whether they can be used. “It’s winter at the moment, and people have nowhere to go. The most important thing is to find shelter. Food and water will come, but new housing cannot come for two months,” said Milena Milotinova’s guest. The way out, according to him, is large-scale construction. “But it can’t be done in months. Also, they won’t be starting clean, and it’s going to take a lot of work to clear these structures. Things will tighten up, as they always do after an incident, but it will take years.”
Twitter does not work in Turkey, according to journalist Tayfur Hussain.
“Many people have been making appeals using social media, especially Twitter, which is the most widespread social media in Turkey. The rulers are imposing restrictions on social media and this is to control, not coordinate the disaster itself. Many NGOs are reaching out for support without much effect. A large part of the media in the country, over 95%, is completely under the control of the rulers. There, the idea is pushed that the country is powerful and fully capable of dealing with a major disaster. But in an event of this magnitude it is hardly capable. The expertise of NGOs that have helped many times after such disasters comes to the fore. On the part of the political circles in Turkey, there is a negative attitude towards such organizations, since they are not controlled by the rulers,” said Hussein.
On the issue of whether Bulgaria is sufficiently protected in the event of such an earthquake, Asparuh Delev from the National Association of Construction Entrepreneurs stated:
“We have quality projects, we work with controlled materials and we have traditions in construction. I don’t know a colleague who would compromise with the building structure. There can be problems with the buildings and there are, but they are related to the finishing materials. Due to our long-standing traditions however, in the industry, no one allows themselves to compromise with the construction of the building itself. These things have become a law in construction. In terms of construction, our buildings are at least at the average European level and in no way inferior to modern construction.”
The whole conversation – see in the video:
