NATION ALLIANCE STATEMENT

Meeting with Earthquake Agenda

February 18, 2023 - Ankara 

As a country and a nation, we are experiencing one of the gravest tragedies of our history. We again wish God's mercy to our citizens who lost their lives, condolences and patience to their families, and a speedy recovery to our wounded. 

Despite the government's bewilderment, helplessness, and divisive attitude, we thank our institutions and public officials who fulfilled their responsibilities from the first moment of the earthquake and tried to do everything they could. Likewise, we are grateful to our NGOs, citizens, international solidarity, and nameless heroes who showed tremendous solidarity and worked with great sacrifice and diligence. 

In Turkey, an earthquake country, it is evident that necessary preparations are only made after disasters, and insufficient measures are taken. The weakening of the institutional capacity of AFAD, which used to be under the Prime Ministry, assigning senior positions to people who lack merit, granting zoning amnesty to earthquake-resistant buildings with no required report, and the excessive greed for rent that opened the door to corruption in the construction sector have caused our nation to pay a deadly bill. 

The loss of autonomy, merit and transparency in every institution of our country has directly affected disaster management and earthquake response. Because of the Presidential Government System, in which no bureaucrat can take the initiative and instructions are given by one person, the suffering and casualties have increased dramatically. Unfortunately, the disaster process was not managed well and searched, and rescue operations were late and inadequate. It is a painful fact that providing basic needs and aid activities could not be appropriately coordinated. As a result, the impact of the disaster reached grave dimensions. 

Unfortunately, a distinction was made between municipalities and NGOs, and it took time to include them in the process. Polarizing discourses should have been taken aside, and decisions from a single center delayed the work. Moreover, irrational practices such as sending law enforcement officers, miners, and construction equipment to the disaster zone too late, slowing down the bandwidth on social media platforms, and not closing the stock exchange had irreparable consequences and deepened the crisis. 

The government still needs to take adequate steps in terms of shelter, mobile toilets and hygiene and the necessary measures against the risk of epidemics in the region. Furthermore, there needs to be planning and guidance regarding internal migration after the earthquake. All errors, defects, negligence, and intentions are apparent. Legal, administrative, and political responsibilities are also archived and noted in our files and memories.

As the Nation Alliance, we are aware of the heavy responsibilities on these shoulders. Now a difficult challenge ahead of us awaits us. We must draw lessons from this disaster and build our cities and future with common sense.

It should be remembered that geology, seismology, psychology, sociology, ecology, medicine, economy, education, law, politics, urban planning, and architecture can never be considered independent, and all of them can be addressed. 

In this framework, we will follow the process closely with experts in all these fields. We will establish a commission for the short, medium, and long-term work to be done to eliminate the effects of the earthquake and for joint work on this. 

We are warning! The sale of houses, plots, and land to foreigners in disaster zones must be prohibited! During the region's reconstruction, it is essential to preserve the demographic and social structure, especially in Hatay. Therefore, we are especially following this issue! 

The most pressing need of our country is a new and effective government that will remove the political wreckage we are in, strengthen state institutions based on transparency and public service, manage the country under crisis conditions, take our country out of the economic crisis we are in, end the waste and extravagance that the government has indulged in, strengthen our economy, which will be affected by the disaster, and take merit as a basis in state administration. 

We announce that we are ready for Turkey with the support we get from our nation and our belief in ourselves.

Finally, today we call on the international community to help heal the wounds of the earthquake in Syria and wish patience and condolences to the Syrian people. 

As the Nation Alliance, we inform the public that we will hold our routine meeting, which we had planned and postponed after the earthquake, on Thursday, March 2, hosted by the Felicity Party.