Two devastating earthquakes hit the Turkish-Syrian border on February 6. The epicenter of the first 7.7 magnitude quake struck 34 kilometers west of Gaziantep, Turkey’s sixth-largest city. This was followed a mere nine hours later by a second 7.6 magnitude quake, roughly 95 kilometers north-northwest from the first, in Kahramanmaras Province, a part of eastern Turkey known for its mountains and steppes.
Followed by over 15,000 aftershocks, the earthquakes were utterly catastrophic. Every tremor caused widespread damage in southern and central Turkey, as well as in northern and western Syria, affecting areas that cover over 110,000 square kilometers, or roughly the size of Bulgaria.
The human toll has been devastating with 12,000 buildings destroyed, at least 48,000 dead and millions more have been left homeless.
In the aftermath of these earthquakes, Turkey sounded a level 4 alarm calling for global assistance. The international community responded strongly with more than 90 countries sending search and rescue teams, including over 10,000 personnel, in what has become the most extensive search and rescue mission in recorded history.
While this act of global solidarity has saved thousands of lives, much more is needed to fully recover from what is now the “disaster of the century”.
On March 13, a conference took place in the European Parliament on the “Solidarity to Overcome Disaster”, which aims to create a platform for multilateral dialogue to improve cooperation, strengthen solidarity, identify immediate humanitarian needs of earthquakes survivors, raise awareness regarding the current situation in southern Turkey and Syria and evaluate the current effectiveness of aid and assistance between the European Union and Ankara.
The high-level panel brought together European and Turkish officials and ultimately reached two main conclusions. Firstly, while the immediate response is vital, the work has merely just begun. For survivors, the most important thing is the immediate reconstruction of their homes. After having healed from the initial physical shock, those that were left homeless need to begin healing from the psychological trauma by being returned to a permanent place of residence.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to rebuild safe and permanent housing units in the affected areas within a year. How successful this endeavor remains to be seen, but what is certain is that Erdogan will not be able to do it alone. A united international effort will be needed, regardless of the political ramifications.
At a time of crisis, the European Commission-led conference highlighted that political differences and rivalries were set aside to come together as humans in the aid and rescue efforts. The panellists also noted that the international response was not only immediate and effective, but also from countries with which Turkey is not necessarily on the best of terms.
Fahrettin Altun, the Director of Turkish Presidential Communications, said Turkey appreciated the EU’s support and looks forward to any further assistance from Brussels in the relief and recovery efforts for earthquake survivors. Altun and the other conference panellists hope that the disaster relief collaboration between the EU and Turkey could open the way for future discourse and facilitate diplomatic conversations between the two sides that go far beyond crisis response planning.
Top officials will appear at the Donors’ Conference, a meeting organized by the European Commission and set to be held on March 20. The gathering is intended as a platform to help mobilize the international community to deal with the $100 billion in estimated damages caused by the earthquakes.
The objective of the high-level conference, which will be open to all 27 nations of the European Union, the EU’s neighboring countries, every UN member, international financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders, is to coordinate the donors’ response and raise resources in support of the early recovery and relief in the affected areas of Turkey and Syria. It will be chaired jointly by the EU Commissioner in charge of Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Oliver Varhelyi, and the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Johan Forssell.
The EU and its members intend to make a significant pledge for further relief, recovery and reconstruction in both Turkey and Syria, while calling on other international partners and global donors to show solidarity with the Turkish and Syrian people by mobilizing pledges in line with the scale and magnitude of the damage caused by the earthquakes.
