Six months ago today, a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Kahramanmaras and 10 other provinces in southern Turkey on the morning of February 6th.
Yet this latest demolition is taking place in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest metropolis, far away from the earthquake zone. This time the building wasn’t torn down as part of search-and-rescue efforts, but to prevent such harrowing scenes in the future.
After the February tragedy, the Istanbul municipality headed by Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a prominent figure in the opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, earmarked for demolition 318 buildings housing over 10,000 people. Both experts and Erdogan critics argue that the sheer scale of February’s destruction was due to the president’s weak enforcement of building codes amidst a construction boom that helped drive economic growth.
People are living in metal shipping containers and tents in sweltering heat that can reach up to 42 degrees Celsius without any access to air conditioning. Residents must also contend with flies, snakes and other wildlife while living outdoors, according to Gumus. “There were concrete statements before the elections, but afterwards we stopped hearing anything concrete,” continues Gumus, claiming that the government has not committed to securing new houses for victims or even to fortifying their existing residences. “Six months after the disaster we should be talking about newly built residences, not lines of people waiting for water,” he adds.
Victims of the earthquake have already had to deal with the aftermath of a disaster, the worst cost of living crisis in decades, and a highly polarizing election. They’ll have only had a brief break from politics as Turkey heads to hotly contested municipal elections in March. Erdogan, fresh off his victory in national elections last May, has vowed to take back the metropolitan cities he lost in 2019.
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