The forgotten never forget those who forgot them!

2024 is coming to Hatay as well. The people of Hatay have no table to set, but they have a list of many questions for which they cannot find answers.

On one side, hundreds of people waiting in the cold and in queues to get drinking water; on the other, drinking water gushing out into the streets from pipes burst by demolition crews… This ironic scene, witnessed by Aunt Zeliha as she returns to her tent with 5 liters of water in her hand, is a mental block that thousands of Hatay residents are exposed to every day!

As 2024 approaches, hope is fading from Hatay. The feeling of being left alone settles like a dark cloud on the weary shoulders of the people.

The sadness on people's faces has given way to anger and despair. The people of Hatay feel like their city, which makes them feel abandoned;  

Smoky and gray!

If you happen to go out for a walk from your tent in the evening, they say, “God help you.”

The night is pitch black. There are no roads, no lights. Nothing is familiar, nothing resembles anything else. The screams of the night of February 6 are still in their ears. If someone happens to pass by the area where the house of a lost relative once stood, they begin to recite prayers in their own language and according to their own faith. Amidst the rubble and ruined buildings, the city resembles a giant graveyard.

There are children playing inside the graveyard, the children of Antakya, who are like colorful flowers blooming amidst all this grayness.

A teacher recounts: A little girl named Miray came to register with her grandfather. While they were talking about school supplies, the grandfather suddenly says, “That’s enough, teacher. This child is my most precious possession. She is the one who gave me her mother, her father, and her little brother.” The teacher does not understand.

“How can she give them?” she asks. Miray is the only one left from a family of four!

Miray is the one who identified the locations of her mother, father, and brother. Being able to recover the bodies in one piece is a reason for gratitude around here.

The teachers who do not let their smiles fade despite such difficult conditions are also a reason for the people to be grateful. Thanks to them, the children are learning to heal from the great pain and trauma they have experienced. Scabies and lice outbreaks in schools continue. There is no well-equipped hospital, no well-equipped doctor. For a well-equipped hospital, the nearest place pointed to is Adana.

Exactly 10 months have passed! People who have been staying in tents for 10 months dream of moving to a container, and those living in containers dream of moving into a “real home.” While they are trying to get information about whether it is on-site transformation or property rights, a “reserve area” issue has also emerged, which is mind-boggling…

I would like to say that every door knocked on for information is a brick wall; however, there is neither a door nor a wall…

In the container cities established for the relevant provincial directorates, two institutions side-by-side give different answers. As a final decision, they say, “We don’t know either, wait for news from the ministry.”

In the eyes of the public, the reserve area is a tangle of chaos!

Two different maps were published within very short time intervals. The decision was based on Law No. 6306 in the Official Gazette. The clause in the law stating that “a region within a residential area can be declared a reserve area on the grounds of disaster risk anywhere in Turkey, and people’s immovable properties can be seized” leaves questions about property rights unanswered for people whose sense of trust has already been fundamentally shaken. Not only can no one get clearer information than anyone else, but rumors make people even more uneasy.

HATAY RESIDENTS ARE SEEKING ANSWERS TO THEIR QUESTIONS AND SOMEONE TO ADDRESS!

On what basis was the reserve area determined?

Was soil liquefaction or soil survey taken into account when determining the reserve area?

How much money will I pay for my residence that falls into the reserve area?

How many floors will it have, how many square meters will it be?

Will my neighbors remain the same? Will the demographic structure be disrupted?

When will I be able to take delivery of my house as soon as possible?

How many years will I remain in debt? How will my heirs deal with this?

Their only wish is to hear clear, real, and unchanging answers to these questions.

And as soon as possible.

10 months have passed since the earthquake. In 10 months, ten things that would change the lives of the people for the better could not be done.

Manhole covers stolen as a result of theft threaten the safety of the streets. The bursting of clean water pipes and the inability to repair them for a long time make access to clean water difficult.

While moderately damaged buildings are left in a dangerous state, no precautions are taken in this regard.

The inadequacy of municipal services such as cleaning and garbage collection makes living conditions even more difficult.

The government, which has the power to build an airport in the sea in the Black Sea in a very short time, unfortunately plans to finish the earthquake-damaged Hatay Airport in two and a half years! This slowness brings other questions to the minds of the people.

2024 is coming to Hatay as well. The people of Hatay have no table to set, but they have a list of many questions for which they cannot find answers.

Today is December 10, World Human Rights Day. It is worth reminding: The forgotten never forget those who forgot them.