Admission from Murat Kurum: '2.5 million of our people are under serious risk'

Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum made statements regarding the urban transformation efforts carried out by the ministry on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the August 17, 1999 Marmara Earthquake.

Reminding that 80,000 lives have been lost to earthquakes in the country over the last 120 years, Kurum said, "For us, the 1999 Marmara Earthquake was a turning point. At the same time, it changed our perspective on urban planning after 2002."

Stating, "With the regulations we made after the 1999 earthquake, we started the process of building Turkey's strong, resilient, and healthy cities," Kurum argued that they have implemented very important legal regulations and new practices.

In this context, stating that 6 fundamental studies regarding earthquakes are of importance for the country's future, Kurum continued as follows:

"We prepared the earthquake regulation. We implemented the building inspection system. We put practices such as compulsory earthquake insurance into effect. We established our AFAD Presidency. Municipalities and TOKİ accelerated housing production efforts. Following the Van Earthquake in 2011, the Urban Transformation Law came into force. Along with this, we established our Urban Transformation Presidency. We established a general directorate specifically for the Marmara region, especially Istanbul, and all these efforts were our pre-disaster precaution measures, not post-disaster. Of course, today there are 36 million independent units and 31 million residences in all of Turkey. About 6 million of these independent units are at risk, and 2 million need to undergo urgent transformation."

"A POTENTIAL ISTANBUL EARTHQUAKE WILL AFFECT ALL OF TURKEY"

Pointing out that Istanbul, in particular, is a reality of earthquakes, Minister Kurum said, "Moving from this reality, I say with sadness that a potential Istanbul earthquake will affect not only our city but the entire Marmara region and even all of Turkey. Because the strength of our national economy is largely in our Istanbul, in this region, that is, in Marmara. An earthquake in Istanbul will lead to very serious problems in economy, trade, and tourism, as well as in education, defense, and transportation."

Emphasizing that they have accelerated urban transformation efforts in every corner of the city by consulting with scientists, especially in the last 12 years in Istanbul, Kurum shared the following information:

"Today, we have completed our risk analyses in Istanbul's 39 districts and saw that one-fifth of the total number of homes in this city, meaning approximately 1.5 million homes, are in an unhealthy condition. We saw that 600,000 residences are at risk of collapsing within the first minutes of a potential earthquake. This means approximately 2.5 million of our people are living under very serious risk. We are fully aware of the seriousness of this situation and know that these buildings need to be transformed urgently. We have transformed a portion of the 1.5 million risky buildings we identified in Istanbul. We have increased the earthquake resistance of public buildings, including educational and health facilities."

"WE HAVE COMPLETED THE TRANSFORMATION OF 903 THOUSAND INDEPENDENT UNITS IN ISTANBUL"

Emphasizing that they have been determinedly continuing urban transformation activities in every district of Istanbul since 2012, with the enactment of Law No. 6306, Kurum said, "In this context, we carried out the demolition of 505,000 independent units. And since 2012, we have completed the transformation of 903,000 independent units together with the ministry and the private sector. We are currently continuing transformation efforts for 181,000 independent units. Today, in our Istanbul, we are continuing the transformation street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, district by district."

Recalling the transformation efforts carried out in Kağıthane, Güngören Tozkoparan, Gaziosmanpaşa, Üsküdar Ferah and Kirazlıtepe, Ümraniye, Bağcılar, Kağıthane, Ataşehir Şerif Ali Çiftliği, Fikirtepe, Beykoz Tokatköy, and Beyoğlu Okmeydanı in this context, Kurum said:

"In this process, as the state, we are always by our citizens' side. Since 2012, we have made a total of 132 billion liras in support payments, including 15.5 billion liras in rent assistance in Istanbul alone. These supports are an indication of the steps we have taken with determination on the path to making Istanbul a safer and healthier city."

"WE EXPECT OUR CITIZENS TO JOIN THE URBAN TRANSFORMATION MOBILIZATION"

Stating that they are working to make Istanbul a safer and more livable city, Kurum said, "We want to build an Istanbul where our children, our offspring, and our grandchildren can live in safety. By working together, we will build a disaster-resilient and modern Istanbul all together."

Explaining that they are implementing the fastest and most reliable projects in the face of the earthquake reality, Kurum stated, "We will continue to work tirelessly for an Istanbul that walks confidently into the future. This transformation is not only a transformation of buildings but also of our future. On this occasion, we expect our valued citizens to join the urban transformation mobilization. We will build our future together."

Providing information about their roadmap against the expected earthquake in the Marmara Region, Kurum noted the following:

"Our preparations are ongoing. Within the scope of urban transformation efforts, 'rapidly renewing risky buildings' in the short term, 'implementing earthquake master plans' in the medium term, and 'building resilient and sustainable cities' in the long term are among our priority goals. We will accelerate our urban transformation projects in regions with the highest earthquake risk, and we will always prioritize the transformation of risky structures in this process. At this point, we are taking steps to further accelerate our 'Yarısı Bizden' (Half is on Us) Campaign, which our people have welcomed with great favor and which has completed a very intensive application process."

"WE WILL MAKE OUR ISTANBUL PREPARED FOR EARTHQUAKES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE"

Stating that they received applications for 1.225 million residences in 2.5 months within the scope of the 'Yarısı Bizden' Campaign, Kurum said, "We have now completely removed the date restriction in 'Yarısı Bizden'. We have paved the way for our citizens to apply indefinitely in our 39 districts."

Kurum reported that they provide a total of 1.5 million liras in support to rights holders within the scope of the project, consisting of 700,000 liras as a grant, 700,000 liras as a loan, and 100,000 liras as evacuation support.

Stating that loan repayments begin 2 years after the building permit is obtained and that no interest is applied in the first year of the 10-year term loan, Kurum continued his words as follows:

"Again, in the projects to be produced, we keep parking and shelter areas outside the project square footage. We do not allow any of our brothers or sisters to suffer a loss of rights. We are also making an improvement for our contractor firms. We pay 30 percent of the contract price to these firms as soon as they start the work. Thus, we are accelerating the work as much as possible. With the 'Yarısı Bizden' Campaign, we will make our Istanbul prepared for earthquakes and all disasters as soon as possible all together."

"76 THOUSAND RESIDENCES HAVE BEEN DELIVERED TO RIGHTS HOLDERS"

Minister Kurum also provided information about the latest situation in the region regarding the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes that occurred on February 6. Stating, "As long as our earthquake-affected brothers and sisters do not enter their new homes, we will not lay our heads on our pillows comfortably in our own homes," Kurum said that 76,000 residences have been delivered to rights holders with all their amenities so far.

Kurum said, "We will reach the number of 100,000 in September. Again, by the end of the year, we will deliver a total of at least 200,000 of our residences with this same understanding. By the time we reach the end of 2025, there will not be a single earthquake-affected brother or sister left who has not attained their new home and productive workplace."

News Source: AA