Page 264 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 4

A New Model in Disaster Management:
Turkish National Risk Shield Model

to the conjunctural realities mentioned above, Türkiye faces natural disasters
caused by geological, hydrological and meteorological changes depending
on the structure and climate of its geography. Türkiye is a country that is always
prone to the danger and risk of natural disasters due to its tectonic formation,
geological structure, topography and meteorological characteristics, as
well as climate change being experienced recently. Bearing in mind that
the physical and social vulnerability of the country is also high, the natural
events largely lead to loss of life, injuries, property losses. Landslides, floods,
erosion, drought, rock falls and avalanches, especially earthquakes, are the
main natural disasters faced in Türkiye. The destruction of forests and the
resulting severe erosion, on the one hand, lead to environmental problems
and economic losses to a large extent, while on the other hand, it increases
the impacts of existing natural hazards. This situation also poses a great risk
for the sustainable development of Türkiye. Besides, the climate crisis and
related disasters have started to threaten Türkiye as in all over the world.
Disasters such as floods, forest fires, landslides, aridity and drought occurring
recently are defined as climate change-based disasters.
Türkiye, for sure, has strengthened its early response infrastructure as a
country against the increasing number of disasters in recent years and has
managed to carry out the recovery of the post-disaster process quickly,
effectively and efficiently. The studies carried out, especially after the 1999
Marmara Earthquake, at both institutional and legislative levels and the
models further developed are a reflection of this success. Gathering the
disaster management under one roof under the presidency of AFAD, the
presence of Turkish Disaster Management Action Plan, a guide prepared with
a participatory approach, and the historical steps Türkiye has taken on climate
change should also be significantly evaluated. Türkiye has attracted the
attention of the entire world, as a representation of a social state that builds
safe housing for its citizens in the shortest possible time as a result of its fast
solutions to the permanent housing problems. In this sense, Türkiye continues
its urbanization activities with full determination and fulfils the requirements
for the new social state model it has built in the era of crisis. Türkiye takes
certain steps going beyond the borders in social policies without neglecting
the earthquakes, floods and fires in Albania, Ukraine and Pakistan etc. and
leads the process of establishing a more fair world.

3. Revitalization and Reconstruction Process After the Kahramanmaraş
Earthquakes
Türkiye has struck by one of the largest disasters in its history with two
major earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş. More than 50 thousand of

Year 2 / Issue 4 / July 2023 253