The Turkish Chamber of Architects TMMOB attested to the government’s great complicity in the extent of the earthquake catastrophe that killed more than 43,000 people in Turkey alone. By later legalizing thousands of unauthorized buildings, the government has put many people’s lives at risk, according to a council report on Thursday.
Nearly half of the buildings in the earthquake-affected region were built after 2001, when strict earthquake safety regulations were in place. However, half of the collapsed or badly damaged buildings date from this period. Construction supervision was transferred to the private sector, meaning that the state neglected its responsibility to the general public.
164,000 buildings destroyed
In view of the government’s promise to rebuild the affected regions within a year, the chamber warned that the reconstruction should not be carried out in the same facilities. According to the government, 164,000 buildings were reported to have collapsed or been severely damaged. According to the Chamber of Architects, data from recent years show that the Toki state housing authority can only build about 58,500 houses a year.
The report also criticized again that no aid had arrived in many places for days. In cities in Hatay province, for example, the government and emergency services only started providing active assistance on the fourth day. In the city of Malatya, for example, the emergency service was active from day one, but it was not effective due to lack of coordination and organization.
The response to the crisis revealed that the state was totally unprepared. Government-appointed governors would also have created a chaos of competences and delayed decisions.
Erdoğan rejects criticism
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and government officials have dismissed such criticisms. Erdogan admitted that there were problems in the early days. For example, the government justified supply bottlenecks in crisis regions based on the size of the affected area and the severity of the disaster.