Tag: earthquake in Van

The political consequences of Turkey’s earthquake

Editor’s Note: Soner Cagaptay is a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and is the co-author, with Scott Carpenter, of Regenerating the U.S.-Turkey Partnership.

By Soner Cagaptay – Special to CNN

In 1999, two massive earthquakes struck Western Turkey just outside of Istanbul, killing thousands of people. The quakes shook not only the Anatolian tectonic plate but also the Turks’ confidence in their much-respected secular elites who, soon after the quakes, were voted out of power for failing to respond in time to the devastating tremors.

Just as the 1999 quakes were a test of competency for the country’s secular elites, the October 23 quake in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish east will serve as a test for the self-proclaimed leaders of the Kurdish nationalist movement, which ranges from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a socialist outfit, to religious orders (tariqats) and faith-based NGOs.

As Turkey’s Kurdish nationalist movement enters a new phase, buoyed by demands for political recognition for the Kurds, the group that performs best in delivering aid to the Kurdish quake survivors will likely emerge as the leader of Turkey’s Kurdish nationalist movement. By the same token, groups that fall behind in delivering relief will lose their prestige, as well as the support of the Kurdish population.

In 1999, the Turkish authorities were woefully late in responding to the crisis; it took the country’s Prime Minister three days to visit quake-destroyed towns. Even when aid came, it was disorganized. The NGOs seemed to do a better job providing relief to survivors than the government’s coalition of secular parties.

This was the beginning of the end for Turkey’s traditional secular elites.

In the following days, the Turks’ erstwhile and steadfast confidence in their governing elites unraveled. Proven inept by their massive failure to respond to the quake, the country’s secular political parties simply withered away. Following a devastating economic crisis in 2000-2001, the Turks voted out these traditional elites, replacing them with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) that has since ruled the country.

And now a similar, if dualistic, challenge awaits the aspiring leaders of Turkey’s Kurdish community. For a long time now, there has been competition for leadership among the Kurds of southeast Turkey. In this regard, there have been two main camps. First is the PKK. A well-oiled propaganda and fighting machine with a leftist and socialist appeal, the PKK has made inroads among the population, especially in the far-away, southeastern parts of Turkey.

Lately though, faith-based NGOs, as well as religious orders, have challenged the PKK’s relatively strong appeal with politically attractive messages alluring to the area’s conservative Kurds. They have also provided the services to the poor that are missing from the PKK’s violence-prone tool box.

This is why the PKK might now end up with the short end of the stick. Even though the PKK has its own network, it lags well behind that which the faith-based NGOs and tariqats have built in recent years. The latter know how to deliver services, and the PKK does not. This suggests that not the PKK but the faith-based NGOs and tariqats will emerge as the first groups to reach the quake’s victims.

What is more, given that it is an illegal organization, the PKK will be prevented from working out in the open to deliver aid to survivors.

In the eyes of common Kurds in eastern Turkey, the PKK now faces the risk of falling behind the faith-based NGOs and the religious orders, for it will likely be outperformed by them in delivering assistance to the local, earthquake-stricken population.

The Turkish state will also be tested in the post-tremor era. The Kurdish survivors’ faith in Turkey’s ability to meet their needs and aspirations will be put on trial depending on how fast Ankara responds to deliver aid to the quake victims and, more importantly, whether Ankara provides long-term relief to the survivors.

This is indeed a test for Ankara, and also for the aspiring leadership of Turkey’s Kurdish community. Even more, the Kurdish earthquake could be the beginning of the end for the PKK’s appeal among the Kurds in southeastern Turkey, to the detriment of other players.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of Soner Cagaptay.

via The political consequences of Turkey’s earthquake – Global Public Square – CNN.com Blogs.

Residents of Ercis, Turkey, gather around fires in the aftermath of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that rocked the city on Sunday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) — Battling near-freezing temperatures and darkness, rescue workers and residents in eastern Turkey early Monday scoured the wreckage wrought by the country’s most-powerful earthquake in more than a decade, hoping to find survivors.

They used flashlights, shovels, heavy machinery and their hands to lift the debris, and climbed over collapsed buildings in search of victims.

At least 217 people were killed in Sunday’s quake, said Turkish Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin, the Anatolian news agency reported Monday. The previous official toll was 138.

Another 350 people were injured in the quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said had a magnitude of 7.2.

Roughly 20 aftershocks rattled eastern Turkey in one of the nation’s poorest areas. The largest had a magnitude of 6.0.

One hundred people were killed in Van, while 117 were killed in Ercis, said Sahin, the Anatolian news agency reported. It also said that schools will be closed for a week in Van.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters the death toll is likely to climb, as rescue teams work through the night to save people still trapped in the rubble.

The prime minister said 55 buildings collapsed in Ercis on the north shore of Lake Van, while the Turkish Red Crescent had said earlier that some 25 apartment buildings and a student dormitory collapsed in the town.

Local rescuers took many wounded people out of the dormitory, a Red Crescent statement said, without saying exactly how many.

A health services building also collapsed, along with part of a hospital, CNN sister network CNN Turk reported. The injured were being treated in the hospital’s garden.

“People are really scared,” said CNN Turk reporter Nevsin Mengu. “The survivors are now trying to survive the cold weather.”

She said many residents are not returning to their houses, but sleeping on rooftops or in the streets. It was not clear whether their homes were uninhabitable, or whether they were just too frightened. Electricity and natural gas were off in most of the city.

Speaking from Van, Mengu said the death toll is almost sure to rise, as rescue teams have not yet reached some of the smaller villages. Trucks carrying medical aid and food were seen driving into Van.

Official rescue efforts were also under way in Ercis, said CNN Turk reporter Sevda Incesu, but residents were conducting efforts of their own. Ambulances were having trouble getting into town because the roads were littered with debris, she said.

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Video footage from the scene showed survivors freed from the rubble being loaded onto stretchers amid a crush of rescue workers and bystanders. Heavy equipment was used to sift through the wreckage, as residents gathered around small fires.

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The Red Crescent called for rescue workers, machinery and drinking water. A crisis center was set up by the country’s Health Ministry in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Health Minister Recep Akdag said an air ambulance and several helicopters would go to the quake zone.

Rescue teams of about 500 people were on the ground, according to the crisis center, and additional aid teams were dispatched from 29 surrounding cities. Medical helicopters were transporting the injured to hospitals in other provinces, the center said.

Two tent hospitals were being set up in Ercis, and two cargo planes were dispatched from the capital carrying medical teams and aid.

A seven-story building collapsed on Kazim Karabekir Street in the city of Van, and more buildings were reduced to rubble the village of Tabanli in Van province, the Anatolian news agency said. It was unknown how many people were trapped.

Prime Minister Erdogan and Health Minister Akdag arrived in the area Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health’s crisis center.

Israel offered Turkey “any help it may require” after the earthquake, Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s office said. Israel and Turkey, once close allies, saw a deterioration in relations in a dispute over an Israeli naval commando raid on the Gaza-bound ship Mavi Marmara, in which nine Turkish activists were killed.

Other nations and organizations offered condolences and assistance to Turkey.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the brave men and women who are working to bring assistance to this stricken region,” U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally at this difficult time, and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities.” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a similar statement.

A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the country, while grateful for offers of aid, is prepared to handle the disaster on its own.

Turkey is “no stranger to having these seismic events,” but Sunday’s quake is considered major, CNN Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf reported.

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Izmit, Turkey, killed more than 17,000 people in 1999, according to the USGS. A magnitude 7.2 tremor in Duzce the same year killed 894 people, the USGS reported.

Sunday’s major quake hit at 1:41 p.m. local time.

It took place about 12 miles from Van, the USGS said.

The USGS reported a depth of 4.5 miles, or 7.2 kilometers; the center in Turkey said the quake was about 3 miles, or 5 kilometers, deep.

CNN’s Guy Azriel, Talia Kayali and Hande Atay contributed to this report.