We cannot think of taking precautions until disaster strikes!

February 6 was perhaps the anniversary of the greatest disaster we have experienced to date.

Tens of thousands of our people lost their lives in the earthquake storm that struck the southeast of the country, and Turkey was deeply shaken.

A year later, with our wounds still fresh, as we watched with tear-filled eyes the struggle of the local people to hold onto life in rain, snow, mud, tents, or containers, news of another disaster came on February 13, this time from the gold mine in Erzincan.

A massive pile of soil containing cyanide, sulfur, and heavy metals slid at the mining site.

9 miners were trapped under this sliding soil.

Along with the landslide, millions of cubic meters of soil containing numerous toxic chemicals mixed into the Euphrates Basin.

Let us say it without beating around the bush.

The political Islamist mentality currently governing Turkey bears the greatest responsibility for these two disasters, which occurred nearly a year apart.

Let us underline this with a thick pen once again.

Since it finances its politics through construction and rent-seeking, not only does it take almost no precautions against earthquakes, but it also hands over the country's land and soil to foreigners for three or five grams of gold, and turns a blind eye to the pollution of the lands we live on, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.

However, when we look at recent history, we see this: we have always lacked foresight regarding the prevention of natural disasters in our geography or their consequences.

We have not taken sufficient precautions, and we have always waited for a disaster to happen to us before making the necessary legal arrangements.

It is clear that we do not have much of a habit of learning lessons.

For some reason, governments do not take action, pass necessary laws, or make applicable regulations until disasters strike us, our people lose their lives, and our homes collapse on our heads.

In this regard, geological engineer Dr. Hakan Çavaş has a very good study that he has also shared with political parties.

He has very well laid out the chronology between disasters and legal regulations within a framework of causality.

A remarkable picture has emerged for those who are truly interested in the issue.

Let us try to summarize it.

The first important date on record is September 14, 1509.

In other words, the Istanbul earthquake…

In the earthquake, which is estimated to have had a magnitude of 7.2 according to available data, between 4 thousand and 13 thousand people lost their lives, more than 10 thousand were injured, 109 mosques and approximately 1,070 houses were destroyed, and thousands of structures were heavily damaged.

Considering the population at that time, we can say that these numbers were very high.

Following the earthquake, tsunami waves reaching up to 6 meters in some places breached the city walls and devastated the coastal districts.

The public called it the "Little Apocalypse," and its impact was felt from Bolu to Edirne.

The Ottoman Sultan of the period, Bayezid II, issued a decree donating 20 gold coins per household to rebuild homes.

50 thousand craftsmen were assigned for the reconstruction of the ruined Istanbul, men between the ages of 14 and 16 were ordered to work in construction, and building houses on landfill soil by the seaside was prohibited; the construction of timber-frame houses was encouraged.

In Istanbul, two thousand new buildings were constructed and some mosques were repaired within a short period of 6 months.

When we look at history books, we can see examples of emergency aid and housing assistance being provided to the public through sultanic decrees during major disasters that occurred during the Ottoman Empire period.

However, all this state aid was not about anticipating or reducing the damages of natural disasters before they occurred. These were wound-healing activities carried out after disasters, which have continued almost until today.

Let us continue.

The first step afterward was taken in 1848 following the declaration of the Tanzimat Edict.

With the "Ebniye Nizamnamesi" (Building Regulation) issued that year, certain principles were introduced for construction in Istanbul. With another regulation issued in 1887, this practice was expanded to cover all municipalities within the borders of the empire.

The second step came 46 years later.

In 1923, the young Republic established the Ministry of Reconstruction and Settlement for the population exchange between Turkey and Greece and the settlement of the exchangees within the country's borders.

However, this ministry, whose scope of duty was limited, was abolished a year later.

It must have been felt that it was lacking, as the Municipal Construction and Roads Law No. 1580 came into effect in 1930.

With the law, municipalities were given the duty of inspection regarding settlement and construction, and building housing for those in need.

It was understood within 9 years that this would not be enough.

In 1939, the Establishment Law of the Ministry of Public Works was amended with Law No. 3611, and the Directorate of Construction and Reconstruction Affairs was established.

Work that had been carried out by trial and error until that day began to be handled more comprehensively following the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Erzincan on December 27, 1939.

On January 17, 1940, Law No. 3773, "Law on Buildings to be Constructed for Those Affected by the Earthquake in Erzincan and Regions Affected by the Erzincan Earthquake," was enacted.

The disaster in Erzincan was followed by floods in many parts of Turkey in 1941, 1942, and 1943.

The government of the period took action and enacted a new law on January 14, 1943, under the name of "Protection Against Floods and Inundations," numbered 4373.

Studies aimed at truly reducing natural disaster damages in Turkey were initiated with the law "On Measures to be Taken Before and After Earthquakes," numbered 4623, on July 18, 1944.

When Law No. 4623 was enacted, only Japan, the USA, and Italy had similar laws.

With this law, the Ministry of Public Works, in cooperation with relevant universities, produced Turkey's first earthquake zones map in 1945. The Turkey Earthquake Zones Construction Regulation, or by its name today, the Regulation on Buildings to be Constructed in Disaster Areas, was prepared.

In 1953, an Earthquake Bureau was established within the Ministry of Public Works, Directorate of Construction and Reconstruction Affairs.

In 1955, this bureau was turned into the DE-SE-YA (Earthquake, Flood, Fire) branch, and this branch began to carry out work on reducing natural disaster damages.

In 1956, the "Zoning Law" numbered 6785 was enacted. With this law, importance and priority were given to the identification of natural disaster risks during the determination of settlement areas and to the issues of building inspection through a technical responsibility system.

In 1958, the Ministry of Reconstruction and Settlement was re-established with Law No. 7116.

The most important feature of this law was that it prevented the enactment of additional appropriations through laws from the General Budget under the name of extraordinary allocations after disasters, and the enactment of separate aid laws for each disaster until that day.

A "Disaster Fund" outside the General Budget was created for this purpose.

Disasters did not leave Turkey alone between 1968 and 1971.

In 1968, Amasra-Bartın, in 1969, Demirci and Alaşehir, in 1970, Gediz, and in 1971, the Burdur and Bingöl earthquakes occurred 15 days apart.

27 thousand structures were destroyed or heavily damaged. This was also a major financial loss, and the money issue had to be solved permanently in some way.

In 1972, the "Law on the Collection of Revenues Obtained from Price Hikes on Certain Monopoly Goods in an Earthquake Fund Account to be Opened at the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey," numbered 1571, was enacted.

An earthquake fund was created.

Some articles of laws numbered 2479 in 1981, 3177 in 1985, and 4133 in 1995 related to this were amended or some articles were added to them.

Five months after the 1992 earthquake, Law No. 3838, "Law on the Execution of Services Regarding the Earthquake Disaster Occurred in Erzincan, Gümüşhane, and Tunceli Provinces and the Damage and Destruction Occurred in Şırnak and Çukurca," was enacted.

In 1995, Law No. 4123, "Law on the Execution of Services Regarding Damage and Destruction Caused by Natural Disasters," came into effect.

However, because it was prepared in a hurry, this law, which covered all articles of Law No. 3838, was amended by Law No. 4133 after the 1995 Dinar earthquake.

On August 17, 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Marmara. Turkey faced a disaster of a magnitude it had not experienced until that time.

The government took quick action, and 10 days later, the "Authorization Law on Measures to be Taken Against Natural Disasters and Regulations to be Made for the Elimination of Damages Arising from Natural Disasters," numbered 4452, was enacted.

With the Prime Ministry Circular No. 2000/9 on March 21, 2000, the establishment of the National Earthquake Council was envisaged.

The chronology extends to the present day, and there are many remarkable details in the report.

In short, this report says that from the Ottoman Empire to the present day, almost no precautions were taken before natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods occurred.

Whenever natural disasters were experienced, governments tried to heal the wounds by enacting laws and making new regulations at that time.

Perhaps due to a lack of foresight or an effort to save the day instead of long-term approaches, no one felt the need to develop politics based on rational projections, starting from the fact that Turkey is an earthquake country!

It is worth remembering once again the words of our great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk: "The truest guide is science." As long as we do not act with rational foresight under the guidance of reason and science, and as long as we try to save the day after every disaster and do not turn to result-oriented precautions, it seems that we will continue to pay the price as a society.

Let us put a period to our article by saying that we will continue to examine the report.