Aslı Ceren Aslan on the Turkish government's inaction in the aftermath of the earthquakes
In the aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, PEN/Opp published Aslı Ceren Aslan’s article on the Turkish government’s inaction in its response to the devastating disaster.
Aslı Ceren Aslan is a journalist, editor, and human rights activist from Turkey whose work has focused on issues of government corruption, gender equality, and the rights of minority groups. Aslan is the current ICORN resident in Växjö City of Refuge, Sweden.
PEN/Opp is an international freedom of expression, literature, and culture online magazine founded by Swedish PEN in 2011. Serving as a forum where the struggle for freedom of expression is highlighted, PEN/Opp has, so far, published texts from 320 writers from 55 countries whose work has been censored, confiscated, or banned.
Aslı Ceren Aslan on: ‘The political meaning of the earthquake in Turkey’
After two major earthquakes in Turkey, which is located on an earthquake zone, many issues such as the lack of necessary and sufficient measures against earthquakes, the inadequacy of the state's allocation to AFAD, the unanswered questions about where the "Earthquake Tax", which was made permanent after the Marmara Earthquake in 1999, was used, and the prioritization of rent in the construction sector over measures against earthquakes have been opened to discussion again.
Here, I would like to draw attention to the phrase "reopened for discussion" because, as I mentioned earlier, Turkey is a country located on an earthquake zone, which is why many medium and large-scale earthquakes have been experienced. Therefore, earthquake is a reality that is constantly on Turkey's agenda, where the consequences of the measures not taken after the devastation and deaths are discussed. The important point here is that the measures not taken and the lack of intervention in the aftermath of earthquakes do not go beyond repetitive discussions and the necessary steps are not taken.
The lack of answers on where the earthquake taxes are spent, the construction left to precariousness for the sake of rent, the lack of adequate equipment and teams to fight against natural disasters take the earthquake reality in Turkey out of the definition of "natural disaster" and make it political. The government, which increases the number of losses in the next possible earthquake by ignoring the suggestions made by many professional organizations and non-governmental organizations on how to minimize damage and loss against the earthquake reality, reveals again and again that it prefers capital and profit greed to human life.
In this way, the precautions not taken before the two separate earthquakes centered in Maraş and affecting many provinces and the lack of intervention against the losses and destruction afterwards show that the government does not value human life. Undoubtedly, the impact of the second largest earthquake in Turkey's last hundred years will be seen politically as Turkish society struggles to recover from the devastation and the accompanying deaths. It is possible to say that the social reaction has been and will be affected by the government's lack of measures and lack of intervention. On the other hand, in the heat of these difficult days, we see the society coming together to defend life against the state's lack of intervention.
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