The Izmir Earthquake: a geopolitical stance taking a toll on Turkish lives
Opinion News Analysis by Maria Wehbe, Staff Writer
November 17th, 2020
On October 30th, 2020, Izmir was hit by a devastating earthquake of a magnitude of 7.0, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). It has been classified as the deadliest earthquake of 2020 and the most destructive one to have hit Turkey in nearly a decade, with around 115 deaths and over 1000 injured thus far. The earthquake was so powerful that it was also felt in Bulgaria, North Macedonia and even Greece, where two teenagers died after a wall had collapsed on them. It was even felt in the capital, Istanbul, more than 200 miles away.
A fourteen-year-old was removed from under the wreckage nearly 58 hours after the earthquake had hit, only to find out later on that her eight-year-old sister did not make it out alive. Can you imagine surviving something like that, and being relieved up until finding out that one of the people you care most about in this world didn’t get that same privilege? Also, a three-year old child was rescued after being trapped under the rubble for nearly 72 hours, while one of her siblings unfortunately did not make it.
“More than 3500 tents and 13 000 beds have been supplied to provide temporary shelter in Turkey, and nearly 8000 personnel and 25 rescue dogs were involved in rescue and relief work.” (The Guardian, 2020). Look closely at these numbers; they reflect the gravity of the consequences of this earthquake that left a permanent scar on each and every Turkish citizen of the city of Izmir.
It was stated that the rescue operations were put to a halt not even one week after the earthquake, where rescue efforts and relief ended as of November 4th. Yet, so many aftershocks happened because of the intensity of this tragic event, recording more than 2000 up until now, with around 46 of them having a magnitude of 4 and above.
Does the government care this little about its’ people? Is it normal to have stopped rescue and relief efforts not even one week after the earthquake? In such a short time span, would it have been possible to eliminate all possibilities of people still being stuck under the debris?
The answer is no, they just simply stopped, knowing that the city is still on the verge of collapse and that so many people are still missing, supposedly. In no way would it have been possible to find every single person, or at least tried looking for all missing people, in only 6 days: the catastrophe was too massive to be able to do so in such little time.
It was a basic human right of every single citizen of that city to have known that all rescue and relief efforts possible were conducted in order to rescue as many people as possible and locate all the missing people. Unfortunately, the people did not get that dignity. They should have been granted the right to say goodbye and to be assured that everything would be done to protect them and care for them. Yet, here we are.
Now, even though the government is at fault for not coming in aid as much as it was needed, the international community is also to be blamed. When talking about a disaster as big as this one, it is not merely the responsibility of the government of the country to react and immediately start recovery protocol on its own, but this is a call to all communities around the world to jump in and send aids. When looking back at disasters having happened along history, with one of the most recent being the catastrophic 4th of August Beirut Port Explosion, people from all around the world immediately came in aid when these countries were at their most vulnerable states. Yet, has this been the case with the Izmir Earthquake? You guessed right: no, it was not the case, and the reason is quite simple.
It is not hard to guess why this city has not received foreign support. The geopolitical position of Turkey regarding the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is reason enough for people to put this country aside in times of crisis. Turkey having sided with Azerbaijan, considering it a “longtime ally” has had nothing but repercussions on Turkish citizens, and this earthquake is only the latest example.
Media coverage was very minimal considering this calamity, which led to so many people not finding out about this, which is unforeseen considering the severity of the damage. Ask people around you if they have heard about this or not, and if yes, whether or not they are still talking about it. You’d be surprised by how many would say that they’ve not seen one post, nor one news coverage about it, nor having talked about it with anyone which highly reflects on what the World has come to be. As well, it seems that foreign aid is nearly non-existent: no country has come forth to come support this fallen city, no country has even tried sending in help, which isn’t usually the case when disasters like these happen.
Turkey does have some geopolitical bad blood with various states and state leaders around the world, but why is it that the citizens are the ones that should pay the price? Why do they need to face the consequences of the government’s poor decision-making skills?
This is not the time to ignore this cry for help, simply because of where the government stands and what it has done over the course of time. This is literally a life or death situation.
If we do not help this community out, this means that we have lost every sense of humanity we have left. Can you imagine this ever happening to you? Can you imagine that they are still hoping to find lost family members and loved ones, still hanging on to that last glimpse of hope?
Put yourself in their shoes. This is not the time to let go of our humanity and compassion: we need to let it kick in and raise more awareness about this.
References:
(1) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54770210
(3) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/30/world/europe/greece-turkey-earthquake-izmir.html