Hometown, where are you from?

Where were we?

Before the political earthquake, the last topic I wrote about was the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and its effects in Europe.

Today I will focus my agenda on the earthquake again, but I don't want to write something directly on the earthquake.

Today I would like to think a little bit about how we can build buildings in these ancient cities of ours that can crumble to dust in an earthquake.

Yes, really, how do you think so many people do not realise that the buildings they live in before an earthquake are actually coffin buildings?

Haven't there been any earthquakes in this country until the last earthquake?

When I lived in Adapazarı when I was little, earthquakes would happen every now and then. My late mother used to say that there was another earthquake, every time the lamp hanging from the ceiling would start to shake even if there was a small tremor.

In fact, there were serious earthquakes in Adapazarı in the past, the 1943 Adapazarı-Hendek earthquake, in 1957 in Abant, and again in 1967 in Adapazarı.

After the 1992 Erzincan earthquake, I worked in Erzincan for a short time.

Adapazarı, where I grew up, was destroyed in 1999. Izmit, up to Gölcük and Yalova, also had a very difficult time, and we lost distant relatives from our family in the 99 earthquake. 

Even Istanbul was affected a lot. Especially Avcılar!

Then there was the Düzce earthquake some time later in the same year, for example, that place was almost levelled to the ground.

Van earthquake, Izmir earthquake, Manisa earthquake, Elâzığ earthquake, earthquake, earthquake, earthquake...

How many more earthquakes this country has seen.

Our country is an earthquake country, we know that! 

It is impossible not to know!

We have drawn risk maps, we have reorganised our construction standards. 

Not enough, we also issued special earthquake regulations in 2018.

So we know, we are an earthquake country!

Well, if we know so much, why did these cities fall to the ground?

What is our problem? Don't we see that thousands of people are buried if we build bad constructions? Since we know, how come we are building grave buildings?

Let's look at the issue from another point of view.

Let's say I don't know, I live in my own world in Ankara or in a city with less earthquake risk. Let's say I don't care about anything.

Well, for example, doesn't a brother from Maraş know that the city he lives in is a risky city in terms of earthquake? 

Doesn't a contractor from Adıyaman know? Doesn't an engineer from Hatay know? Doesn't a politician from Malatya know? Does a mayor from Gaziantep not know?

Don't the contractors in these cities know? Why have they built buildings with low earthquake resistance here all these years?

I think they know, I think they knew!

Or at least those who are conscious must love the cities where they were born. Or am I wrong? Don't they?

Where is my hometown? 

We love each other. 

We call it our land! 

We call the cities we were born in our hometowns. 

The first question we ask when we start talking is "where are you from?".

So hometown is important for most of us. Maybe for all of us.

I will say that whatever we do wrong, we do it to those close to us.

We think we can get away with it by calling it rent-seeking.

No, it's not rent-seeking, I think it's rent-seeking immorality!

Maybe it's even more than immoral.

Look, Grandma Ümmügülsüm is sitting at the rubble, waiting for her son, daughter-in-law and grandson under the rubble.

Look, Zeynep is crying there, neither her mother nor her father. They are under the rubble. Maybe they will not even have a grave. 

There is still the smell of death in the rubble. 

So many days have passed, the rubble is still there. The debris is being removed at full speed, but there are still many debris that have not been removed. 

The rubble smells of death. The officials have to lime the rubble.  

Mihra no longer has a husband, maybe no mother either, I wonder if she has any children left. 

Hasan has no one left, they were all lost in the earthquake. Maybe he buried them all with his own hands. Maybe he couldn't even find a shroud cloth, I wonder if he was able to wash his family he buried with his own hands. 

How could he wash them, was there water? 

Maybe he even performed the funeral prayer on his own, maybe he did not even have the strength to do that. 

Maybe he said a prayer at their graves, that's all.

Ahmet's family may not even have a grave to say a prayer over, under the rubble, or maybe the grave of Ahmet's family is now the place where the rubble was removed.

It is difficult. All this is very difficult! 

I have to say, yes, those in charge of us could have taken precautions all these years, but they didn't. 

Instead of building houses for you, they said they were building roads and bridges. They lined their pockets under the pretext of building airports.

Even hospitals were destroyed in this earthquake, school buildings, state buildings, everything was destroyed.

You send your child to this country so that he can study and become a good son. Maybe you want him to grow up and be a good son so that he can love his grandchildren in his old age. 

But that school building was also destroyed! 

But my beautiful brother, you did all this to yourself!

Either you were a contractor, you mixed concrete with sea sand for the sake of rent, you used less iron because you thought you could do it three cent cheaper. Or you were too lazy to go and check the work done on site because they put three pennies in your pocket. And you! You raised your hand in the parliament so that they could build floors on top of each other, you opened the plain and the valley to development.

I have nothing to say to you, what was that, the zoning peace? Why did you become a partner in zoning murder under the name of peace?

You, my brother, the shop owner who cut that column to make the place bigger, is your family alive?

And what was that, the Paradise site, the Ebrar site or what was it? Weren't you a devout person in your prayers, you had decided to become a contractor, my religious brother, why were these sites demolished then? I thought it was a corner of paradise, I thought you advertised it as earthquake resistant. Did you think that if you used less cement, nothing would happen?

Or if you say that you have never done any of these things, you gave your vote to those who maintain this order, my beautiful brother. If you voted, why didn't you at least ask if this building is strong? Why didn't you bother to have it checked? 

Yes, your pain is my pain too. Believe me, my heart hurts as much as yours.

But remember, if you say what am I going to do now, at least think about it. Think about it and don't give way to those who put you through this pain! Don't believe in those fateful plans. They are all lying to you. This is not fate or anything like that. Those who did this to you are not your fate either!

Don't worry, we will heal your pain together, this nation is benevolent, it will not leave you hungry. They will lend a hand. We will build a future together again. 

Don't worry, everything will be beautiful.

My love and respect to everyone from Moscow.

P.S. I congratulate all ladies on the 8th of March ladies' day in the person of my grandmother Ümmügülsüm.