{"id":15160,"date":"2024-02-06T12:46:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T12:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/06\/i-envy-people-who-have-a-grave-to-visit-earthquake-survivors-in-turkey-struggle-to-rebuild-their-lives-one-year-on\/"},"modified":"2024-02-06T12:46:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T12:46:44","slug":"i-envy-people-who-have-a-grave-to-visit-earthquake-survivors-in-turkey-struggle-to-rebuild-their-lives-one-year-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/06\/i-envy-people-who-have-a-grave-to-visit-earthquake-survivors-in-turkey-struggle-to-rebuild-their-lives-one-year-on\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I envy people who have a grave to visit\u2019: Earthquake survivors in Turkey struggle to rebuild their lives one year on"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Five days after\u00a0a\u00a0devastating earthquake\u00a0struck\u00a0southern Turkey and\u00a0northern\u00a0Syria last year, the world witnessed a miracle: Sezai Karabas and his 6-year-old daughter Sengul\u00a0were\u00a0pulled out of the rubble of his collapsed apartment block in Gaziantep province without a scratch. <\/p>\n

He may have looked like the luckiest man on earth, but he didn\u2019t feel that way. His wife Rukiye and 4-year-old son Mehmet had died. <\/p>\n

They survived by pure luck. They were in another room grabbing winter coats when the building collapsed,\u00a0he said\u00a0\u2013 trapping them\u00a0up\u00a0under five stories of rubble in a long, meter-high pocket. After four days buried, he heard rescuers working above him, but said he didn\u2019t shout because he knew they wouldn\u2019t hear him.\u00a0They were rescued a day later, after 132 hours. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven we don\u2019t know how we survived,\u201d\u00a0Karabas said. \u201cIt was cold, we had no food, or water, but God gave us strength. We didn\u2019t feel hunger, thirst or exhaustion even for a minute. We just waited, and tried to conserve energy.\u201d <\/p>\n

They have since moved to their family village\u00a0and built a new house. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur relationship has become more intense. Of course, Sengul loved me before but now she doesn\u2019t want to leave my side,\u201d\u00a0Karabas\u00a0said. <\/p>\n

Sengul doesn\u2019t talk about her mother and brother,\u00a0he added,\u00a0not wanting to relive the traumatic memories of the earthquake. <\/p>\n

Living in \u2018container cities\u2019<\/h2>\n

The initial earthquake on February 6 was 7.8 in magnitude; a second, 7.5 magnitude quake came hours later. The shaking lasted for only seconds but, a year on, it\u2019s clear the impact\u00a0will\u00a0be felt for\u00a0generations. <\/p>\n

Parts of Hatay look\u00a0almost\u00a0like the\u00a0earthquake\u00a0happened yesterday, as badly damaged buildings await demolition. In the center of the ancient city of Antakya, there are few signs of life and even fewer buildings that look like anyone still lives in them. <\/p>\n

According to official figures, 14 million people in Turkey were impacted by the earthquake. More than 850,000 housing units were either destroyed or badly damaged. And while most of the rubble has been cleared away, rebuilding is slow. <\/p>\n

Last year,\u00a0Turkey\u2019s\u00a0President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to build 650,000 housing units\u00a0for those who had lost their homes to the quake\u00a0\u2013 319,000\u00a0of them\u00a0within a year. <\/p>\n

His government promises that 75,000 will be\u00a0finished\u00a0in the next two months, but fewer than 20,000 have been fully completed so far. <\/p>\n

The main roads between affected cities in southern Turkey are dotted with hundreds of temporary \u201ccontainer cities\u201d\u00a0that will be permanent for the foreseeable future. Almost 700,000 survivors still live in these camps \u2013 in trailers equipped with water and power, but little else. <\/p>\n

Ismail Demir lives in one outside Islahiye, in Gaziantep province,\u00a0with his pregnant wife and 1-year-old son. With arms outstretched, you can almost touch both walls. They have a space heater for warmth and a hot plate to cook. Because demand for housing far outstrips supply, he can\u2019t afford to rent an apartment on his salary as a factory worker. <\/p>\n

\u201cUntil (the government) gives us an apartment, we will have to stay here,\u201d he said. the family lived in a rented apartment before the quake destroyed their home. <\/p>\n

Search for the missing<\/h2>\n

Last year\u2019s earthquake killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey,\u00a0and thousands more in\u00a0neighboring\u00a0Syria. It is difficult to get accurate information on the recovery efforts in Syria, but there is scant evidence of a large-scale coordinated effort to rebuild. <\/p>\n

In Turkey, even a year later, there are at least 145 people missing, 38 of\u00a0whom\u00a0are children, according to Sema Gulec, who leads DEMAK, a group formed to represent their families. The group\u2019s calls for a commission to find the missing have now twice been rejected by parliament. <\/p>\n

Gulec\u2019s 25-year-old son, Batuhan, is\u00a0among those who are\u00a0missing. His building in the seaside city of Iskenderun collapsed on February 6. For eight days, Gulec and her family helped search the rubble. Survivors were pulled out, bodies were found, but not Batuhan. <\/p>\n

Weeks later, a woman responded to social media appeals for information saying she saw Batuhan on February 6 \u2013 covered in dust, but alive. She said an ambulance was too full to take him, so instead he was put into a white car. Gulec has never tracked down the driver. <\/p>\n

DNA tests have failed to confirm a match with any unidentified bodies. She knows he is likely dead, but she can\u2019t let go of the tiny bit of hope\u00a0fed by the lack of certainty over his fate. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes at night, I imagine him coming to my\u00a0apartment and ringing my doorbell, and I take him inside and I feed him,\u201d she says. \u201cIf I can\u2019t find his body, then I will be waiting for him my whole life.\u201d <\/p>\n

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