Possessing moral values and doing given jobs flawlessly should be the motto of people who would like to work for the sake of a community. Our leaders and politicians especially should always put their dedication and efforts into the real world for the benefit of all. The trustworthiness and accountability of leaders make them into remarkable figures and lead them to be known as competent people. Politicians should not have any frailty against inducement and corrupt practices just to gain popularity. Instead, he must enact laws that will obstruct decay and should penalize those who are responsible by taking the risk of losing popularity among people. In other words, realities should be superior to fictitious possibilities to preserve people against disasters. The merit of such leaders will eventually be understood in the worst-case scenarios and their persistence will be seen eventually.

Back in 2018, before the general elections in Turkey, governing party AKP, declared one of the hypocritical pledges to the public called “Zoning Peace” exuberantly. They assured people which they would register the illegal buildings that had been built in the past with a certain amount of payment. In other words, with this campaign, any type of building that was once damaged, constructed without abiding by earthquake regulations, and posing threat to human life would be converted into legal. With this regulation, many opportunistic people ensured themselves by obtaining licenses for their perishable buildings in a country where there are already weak buildings against earthquakes.

Prior to the 2023 Maraş earthquake, the country underwent several lower-scaled earthquakes, like the Izmir and Elazığ, which increased the panic for any potential major earthquake in any part of the country. Much of the country lies on the East Anatolian Fault, a major earthquake zone. The present danger caused scientists to warn  people about potential devastation wrought by earthquakes and strongly argued that government officials should accelerate the urban transformation and obstruct any construction that does not comply with standards. Nonetheless, these considerable calls were not taken seriously by government officials, and no strict measures were implemented to raise awareness of this tremendous issue. In other words, the public was left with their fate in their weakly built homes.

On February 6 at 4:17 a.m. one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded in the country’s history struck. Fragile infrastructure and communication systems exacerbated the repercussions of the disaster which adjourned rescue teams to arrive in the region. The earthquake impacted 10 cities and in some parts destroyed every part of the residential zones. People passed away under the wreckage without receiving any help and many lives could not be saved due to a lack of coordination.

This sudden tragedy with grievance turned into rage and people started to interrogate the presence of the government in the region. According to newspapers like BBC, people could not receive any aid from the Turkish Red Cresent – the official humanitarian organization of the government – in the first three days of the disaster. Some people lost their lives because of the bleak weather of the region and could not receive tents to dwell in. While not any sort of official declaration was made, the inexplicable pain of people could be seen in the tears of the people that lost their acquaintances that shouts out the resignation of the government. President Erdoğan came to the region for inspection 5 days after the region and solaced people by abusing the religious feelings of local people. He remarked that these occurrences are included in fate which we do not have any control over.

Was this event actually sourced by fate which we do not have any control over? Would anyone anticipate anyone to survive in buildings that substantially lack materials to build strong buildings? Would anyone expect the local people to be safe when the municipalities permit contractors to build illegal buildings through bribery? Would you anticipate people to be safe in a town where the mayor in an earthquake zone turns a deaf ear to scientific research which emphasizes urban transformation? No.

Anyone even should not dare to argue against these questions that contradict science and technology. Geologists have already declared the possibility of this region encountering an earthquake way before this tragedy happened. Incidents like the 1999 Gölcük, 2019 Elazığ, and 2020 Izmir earthquakes were already warning signs against these incidents. When the ignorance of local people blends with the inattentiveness of the government, it is inevitable to encounter a high number of casualties and massive economic repercussions. One of the biggest promises that the current government came into power was an effective tussle to minimize the risks of earthquakes which was not fulfilled as is seen. As the ruling party became more powerful and powerful over time, the rise of nepotism could not be inhibited and many incompetent people were appointed to critical positions in disaster coordination centers. As a result, Turkish people were squeezed under the burden of illiteracy. People understood the virtue of honesty and competency harshly.

Even if the country had experienced such a catastrophe, there is still one more major earthquake swiftly approaching day by day: Grand Istanbul Earthquake. After the earthquake in Gölcük – a place southeast of Istanbul – in 1999, people started to tremble about the possibility of the Istanbul earthquake can bankrupt the Turkish economy. Experts assert that more one 100,000 people’s lives are under threat if they continue to live in weak structures. Supposing that the government continues to remain insusceptible on this problem, then Turkish citizens will become obliged to sustain massive civilian casualties.