Living a humane life is a right!

The most terrifying warning regarding the expected Istanbul earthquake came from Prof. Dr. Celal Şengör. 

“Those who survive will wish they had died!”

Stating that the building stock along the southern coastline stretching from Tuzla to Silivri is under serious strain and that a large portion of these buildings would collapse in an earthquake above magnitude 7, Şengör expressed that structures on reclaimed land and in riverbeds are under great threat.

Prof. Naci Görür also travels from city to city, speaking at universities and municipalities to issue warnings; he says, “Our country is under threat from active fault systems. We could face a major, disaster-level earthquake anywhere at any time.”

These two esteemed scientists are warning the political power, local governments, and the Turkish public with their striking statements. 

They say that if an Istanbul earthquake occurs, Turkey will be economically devastated and unable to recover. 

Who cares?

How will Istanbul, where traffic is locked up by a light rain, cope with the massive destruction, the chaos, the aftermath of a major disaster, the looting, the pillaging, and many other issues that are not being explained to the public?

The expected Istanbul earthquake is a serious and vital issue that cannot be left to the responsibility of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality alone. The State, with all its institutions, must prepare for an Istanbul earthquake. 

If the expected danger keeps Celal Şengör and Naci Görür awake at night, it should also keep the political power awake. 

Not only in Istanbul, but the building stock in all our cities where active fault lines pass is very old. Our cities are full of 40-year-old, 50-year-old buildings that have completed their lifespan. İzmir, Bursa, Kocaeli, Adana, Antalya, Mersin, Eskişehir—whichever city I go to, the general landscape is one of aged, worn-out, and decayed building stock!

Is it difficult to put the whole country through urban transformation? 

To build earthquake-resistant cities?

People are helpless, continuing to live in their decayed, aged buildings while saying, “God forbid.” Because rental apartments in new buildings are prohibitively expensive. 

Owning an apartment in a new building is an impossible dream for a middle-income citizen to realize throughout their entire life.

According to a study, if we were to place all the people in Turkey into houses built on 300-square-meter plots, we could fit into an area of 8 thousand 478 square kilometers. This is almost the same as Muş, which has a surface area of 8 thousand 650 square kilometers. That would leave us with 761 thousand 154 square kilometers of remaining space. 

Perhaps it is time to slowly move away from our major cities that are awaiting disaster. 

The new political understanding of the new Turkey will only be possible by creating new centers of attraction where its people can live a happy life. Not lives trapped in old concrete. 

The new politics of the new Turkey must be based on an understanding that cares about human life, values every individual, and makes life beautiful rather than difficult. 

Because living a humane life is a right!