After the earthquake in Turkey, many people are wondering about unsafe buildings.
The town of Erzin shows what could possibly have been prevented.
Erzin – The earthquake in Turkey and Syria has claimed over 40,000 lives, 35,418 in Turkey alone.
This was reported by the Turkish news agency
Anadolu
.
Since the quake shook the country, the questions have been increasing: What could have been prevented?
What role have unsafe yet approved buildings played?
And what responsibility does the AKP around President Erdogan bear for the consequences of the catastrophe?
A look into the town of Erzin gives an idea of how it could have been.
The Earthquake in Turkey and the Fall of the City of Erzin
The province of Hatay was hit hard by the earthquake in Turkey: As in so many other places in the country, buildings in numerous cities collapsed like houses of cards, burying anyone who could not get out of the house quickly enough.
Erzin is in the middle of the affected region, but the city has not lost a single person.
Why is that?
It is apparently also the result of the conscientious work of a mayor who was undeterred when it came to building safety issues.
His name: Ökkeş Elmasoğlu.
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Hatay after the earthquake: In many places in the country the houses collapsed like in this picture - this was not the case in Erzin.
© Umit Turhan Coskun/IMAGO
The 44-year-old belongs to the Kemalist opposition party CHP in the city of 42,000 in the north of Hatay, where he has governed since 2019.
He has a simple and plausible explanation for the fact that Erzin was hit much less hard than other cities.
Elmasoğlu says on Turkish television: "I have not allowed any illegal construction and building activities.
Sometimes I was annoyed with and mockingly asked if I wanted to be the only decent person in the country.
So I have a clear conscience.
I have not allowed any illegal construction.”
Elmasoğlu did his job on building safety issues to the best of his knowledge and belief, probably saving countless lives.
In Turkey, this has meanwhile made him a symbolic figure.
Disaster in Turkey: Could earthquake deaths have been prevented?
Elmasoğlu is convinced of this
It is the big question after the catastrophe in Turkey: could the number of earthquake deaths have been prevented?
Orezin's mayor Ökkeş Elmasoğlu is convinced of that.
He is clear to the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
: “The construction supervision in Turkey does not work.
If it's built according to regulations, a house doesn't collapse so easily.” Before the elections, builders in Turkey who had actually committed themselves to prosecution were sometimes granted impunity – with catastrophic consequences.
After the earthquake, some building contractors were arrested, while others with links to the AKP apparently were not.
Elmasoğlu believes that it is still too easy to blame only the builders.
In the
SZ
he says: “But the entire responsibility is left to the builders and the owners of the houses themselves.
Far too many new buildings are approved.
Often they are not inspected on site after the end of construction, but only accepted on the basis of photos.
So this is a gamble, like a lottery.
You can't control construction like that.” It is clear criticism of a policy that obviously bears considerable responsibility for the consequences of the earthquake.
Earthquake in Turkey: Criticism of "building peace" and misappropriation of the earthquake tax
Since the earthquake in Turkey, criticism of the country's political leadership has become louder and louder.
With a "building peace" in Turkey, defective buildings were apparently also subsequently approved.
In 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed through an amnesty for defective buildings.
At that time he declared during the election campaign:
“
With the 'building peace' we have solved the problems of 144,556 citizens in Kahramanmaras.
In Hatay by 205,000 citizens.” It was a very short-sighted notion of problem-solving.
The government's handling of the earthquake tax is also the subject of current debates, as it apparently did not get where it was supposed to for the most part.
"Black buildings should be demolished" - not amnestied
Ökkeş Elmasoğlu explains in the
SZ
that the fact that there are no high-rise buildings in Erzin and almost only single-family homes has favored the city.
He says there are “almost only single-family houses.
Multi-family houses and apartment blocks have only been built in the last ten years.
I think it's because of the high number of one-story buildings that the incumbents prefer."
In addition, even some illegal buildings from the time before he took office were spared.
Despite all of this, it becomes clear that Erzin was not just "lucky".
It is about accountability, prevention and construction safety.
Elmasoğlu has a clear idea of how to proceed.
He says “black buildings should be demolished.
If you tear down ten, no one will build negligently.
All those responsible must go to court.
The construction industry must be freed from the influence of politics.”
Significantly, according to Erzin's mayor, shortly before the earthquake the government in Turkey was considering further amnesties - the rethinking hoped for by Elmasoğlu seems a long way off, but public pressure is increasing.
(ales)
List of rubrics: © Umit Turhan Coskun/IMAGO
