deprem notları – ملاحظات على الزلزال – notes on earthquake – notas sobre terremoto – notên erdhejê – note sul terremoto
tr – ar– en – es – ku – it
on the day of the earthquakes, we tried to reach our compas from the region, while preparing for the road. obtaining kitchen equipment and a rotary hammer drill from the neighbourhood, various legumes from ovacık, and a generator, basic medicine and hygiene supplies from ankara we drove off. it was cold, there was a blizzard.
our friends from antakya had lost their loved ones, their neighbourhoods. from them we had first-hand knowledge of the scale of devastation in the city. friends from adana joined our convoy and after a brief stop at iskenderun, where we witnessed the destruction, we continued to hatay and arrived at a friend’s neighbourhood. we were fortunate to make it there just ahead of the trucks, when it was still a relatively short drive. soon after, the roads demanded more time, driving from adana to antakya stretched up to ten hours.
there were about 300 people sleeping in their cars in a school yard, and this seemed like the right place to start cooking some soup. though the next morning, along with the people staying there, we abandoned the school yard so that the municipalities could set up their kitchen, toilets, infirmary and such.
with these extensive facilities set up, cooking was no longer an urgency; nevertheless, a kitchen kept running whenever needed, by the side of a park where our tents were pitched.
meanwhile, we used our vehicles to try to facilitate the logistics of supplying the urgent needs of the surrounding neighbourhoods and villages, in order to expedite the distribution of the provisions that could reach the city thanks to a surge of solidarity organised in the cities, from where they were piling up to the people working or waiting beside collapsed buildings.
what was where and where it was actually needed were mapped organically on the instant, and we shared pain, excitement, hopes and established friendships with everyone we met.
after this first week, we can say that antakya is destroyed. despite the devastation, the people of antakya do not want to lose their city. there is an indomitable will to rebuild. in our totality, with all the local and non-local individuals we have come into contact with, we are here. there is a lot of work to be done. there is a multitude of dynamics, each of which will take its own time. we will help the city bloom again.
we had many ties in antakya. we reconnected with them and scores more, and working in coordination we established newer ties. we have said farewell to antakya as we knew it. in addition to the areas that we focus on, we are also in touch with migrant neighbourhoods, as well as many of our compas doing similar work in other areas hit by the earthquake.
the scale of the devastation transcends the human capacity to observe and comprehend. it took several days to grasp its scope, in fact, it is an ongoing process. there is a grave danger that through racist manipulations attempts will be made to divert the fury emerging from the desperation caused by the devastation towards immigrants. however, the stories of syrian immigrants, who have become a part and parcel of antakya in the last decade, is the talk of antakya’s populace. we are alarmed by and vigilantly monitoring discriminatory discourse and conduct on the basis of ethnicity, sectarianism or affiliation that aims to damage the city’s culture of coexistence.
the government doesn’t seem to be trying to give people much motivation to stay here. support such as tents, etc. is very limited; migration is encouraged.
some families went to their relatives from the surrounding villages, while others went to more distant cities with the hope of returning as soon as the rubble is cleared. out-migration from the region and the situation of syrian immigrants are among our concerns.
we have talked to people about what comes next and shared our views with each other. those that were able to retrieve their relatives, dead or alive, from the rubble were beginning to question what kind of processes were awaiting them. our prediction was that the government and corporations would try to take over the entire area and the property ownership in the city would change hands through gentrification. especially in neighbourhoods with more tight-knitted and organised communities, people also shared this view.
after a week of emergency interventions, we came to adana from antakya to rest and talk about what we have done and what we will do from now on.
first off , we advocate that in order to legally resist forced sales etc, no one should sign any proposal before things settle down and people find time to mourn , and that this issue is closely monitored.
the entire city has literally been wiped out and a new era is definitely ahead of us. we are taking action for the regeneration of urban life. we have some ideas to chew over with other groups and collectives. everything keeps changing from one instant to next; setting aside large scale and complex calculations that require long-term planning, we are here, taking situationist action. currently, we are thinking of establishing with our friends here, a social space in the fringes of the city centre, where we will carry out our production activities in the coming days.
from tomorrow on we will revisit hatay for two days. some of us will return to istanbul to carry out the necessary solidarity communications. we will alternate being on the ground.
there are self-sufficient, resilient communities on the scale of extended families in the neighbourhoods. the existing social relations in the neighbourhoods are quite favourable to collective efforts for on-site settlement practices. we want to be here and continue to strive alongside our local friends to build up a holistic city, by using local resources as much as possible.
primarily, we are discussing the implementation of a non-structure modular installation as a social space that can respond to various needs. providing a space for social activities where we can lay the foundations for cooperative ideas, as well as a place that can be used for various needs, like migrant solidarity works or by psychosocial rehabilitation teams; its physical form will emerge out of the practices undertaken there.
for now, this is what we can do with the resources we have on hand, without getting lost amongst colossal fields. we are beginning. we return with a wound in our hearts, which we will not let mend. side by side, arm in arm!
from urban cilicia to rural everywhere
with our hearts, with our compas
tayfa bandista, february 2023