Page 265 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 4

Tuğrul Çamaş - A. Menaf Turan

our citizens lost their lives due to the disaster of the century, which deeply
saddened our nation. “Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes” which hit Türkiye as
well as the neighbouring country Syria, affected and caused great destruction
in our 11 provinces which engage with intense agricultural and industrial
production, embrace the best examples of our ancient urban traditions,
and are extremely rich in history, culture and tourism. Having a great impact
on Adana, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman,
Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Malatya and Elazığ, this earthquake affected about 14
million people directly, and 85 million people as a country. It resulted in great
damage especially in cities and their infrastructures as well as industrial areas,
historical and natural richness, rural residential areas, irrigation, communication,
transportation and logistics infrastructure, educational and health institutions,
places of worship, social facilities. Our cities destructed by the earthquake
also host the most precious treasures of our ancient civilization. On the other
hand, the history of these lands, where there are unique treasures of human
history that we own today and see as part of our identity, dates back to very
early times that are as old as humanity. This region embraces the experience
and cultural heritage of thousands of years of humanity. Unfortunately, these
rare values, our mosques, inns, bridges, castles, madrasahs, museums and
historical squares were seriously damaged in the earthquake (ÇŞİDB, 2023a).
For all these reasons, it is of historical importance to recover the region in
all respects. Türkiye, has been carrying out the works since the first moment
of the disaster, in full unity together with its state and nation as well as all
institutions, by using all its means and experience to heal the wounds in the
region. The vital works, especially search and rescue activities, ranging from
health services to temporary shelter, from damage a assessment to debris
removal, from the restoration of infrastructure services to the construction
of housing, are continuing at a fast pace. It should also be added that our
citizens are supported with a rental allowance until they receive their houses
to avoid them being aggrieved.

3.1. The Largest Housing Construction Movement in the History of the
Republic
The size of the earthquake disaster requires the effective, efficient and
simultaneous provision of search and rescue activities in particular as well as
first aid, food, emergency medical services and temporary housing services.
At the same time with establishing the temporary housing such as tent cities
and container cities and settling the people suffered from earthquake in such
areas, construction of houses has been started, which is regarded as one of the
most important stages of post-earthquake works. Thus, with the cooperation of

254 The Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate