Türkiye ・ Environment

Türkiye's earthquake-hit region faces a second disaster

In February 2023, a deadly earthquake shattered across southern Türkiye and northern Syria, killing over 50,000 people. A year after, due to government maladministration, profit-oriented disaster management and disregard for community needs, a second disaster might emerge.

Investigated and written by Ata Ahmet Kökçü and Sindre Langmoen. Edited by Julius E. O. Fintelmann. Published on 30 April 2024.

Newly dug unmarked grave in the Karapınar cemetery in Adıyaman. Photo by Sindre Langmoen.

Many new temporary gravestones now adorn the Karapınar cemetery in Adıyaman, Türkiye. They all bear the same date: 6 February 2023. On that day, a devastating earthquake shattered southern Türkiye and northern Syria, ending a conservative estimate of 50,000 lives, likely many more.

A truck drives through the cemetery, carrying a load of dirt to be deposited at the far end of the hill, expanding the space for new graves. On one side of the graveyard stands a large block of buildings, cracked by the earthquake but still inhabited. On the other side, a vast gash splits the land open, clouds of dust and smoke rising into the sky and blowing into the mourners visiting their dead.

The earthquake's debris – a vast destruction of human habitats – is sorted here: valuables picked out for safekeeping, materials separated, wires burned to collect copper, the rest deposited in large piles. These piles of sand and rubble, exposed to the wind, expanding into the fields and falling into the river, contain a multitude of substances that are very harmful both to humans and the environment – notably silica, mercury, lead and copious amounts of asbestos.

"Look at the dust, look, there are crop fields over there," local Mahmut Erkenek who lives in Adıyaman, tells us, as we stand looking over the site." They have crops, vineyards, gardens. All this dust and dirt gets on them. It is poison. Poison for the soil too."

Across the entire earthquake region, some 100,000 buildings were levelled. More than 200,000 were severely damaged, many of which had to be torn down. The UN Development Programme estimates the amount of rubble to reach up to 210 million tonnes. This is equivalent to an area of 10 square kilometres, 14,000 football fields covered in debris piled one metre high, or about 38 times the volume of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Contaminated debris poisons the land – and people

Now, the contaminated debris opens the risk of a secondary disaster.  A Reuters investigation documented the toxic contamination potential in the region, and a Deutsche Welle Türkiye piece established the presence of asbestos across the affected areas. Breathing in asbestos fibres increases the risk of asbestosis (a chronic lung disease) and cancers such as mesothelioma, lung cancer or colon cancer – even from a single exposure. Asbestos fibres may lodge deeply inside the lungs and never be removed. 

In addition to the acute asbestos problem there is also possible soil contamination from hazardous materials in the debris, like chemicals, heavy metals, and petroleum products. These contaminants can degrade soil quality and fertility, affecting plant growth, disturbing ecosystems, and posing risks to the food chain. Given these risks to humans, agriculture and the environment, carefully selecting adequate disposal sites for the large amounts of debris is particularly important. 

The site in Adiyaman described at the beginning of this piece borders the main road on the northwestern outskirts of the city, south of an industrial area. It is merely 150 metres from a school and less than 300 metres from a residential neighbourhood with close to thirty high-rise apartment buildings. Around two kilometres to the east of the site, the main residential area of the city begins. 

The circa 100,000 square metre site is surrounded by agricultural fields on both sides and spreads across a stream, which then pours into the Atatürk Reservoir, the third-largest lake in the country. An irrigation canal runs parallel to the stream, crossing through fields to the south and west of the disposal site. Dust and debris from the site contaminate the waterways while strong winds spread the dust across the nearby fields and residences. (Pin 01 on the map below.)

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How did it get to this? According to Professor Berkant Ödemiş, a department head at the Hatay MKU Faculty of Agriculture, a lack of organisation and planning led to "companies demolishing buildings dumping the rubble wherever they found space, for example, next to container cities [for individuals displaced by the earthquake]. He argues that facing extraordinary circumstances, these companies have been left to their own devices without state supervision, and chose the most convenient, cost-effective locations, saving on fuel costs.

The President of the Antakya Environmental Protection Association, Nilgün Karasu, says that the rubble dump sites were not selected in accordance with regulations. "Almost all of the vacant lands identified by the governor's office were dumped with rubble. They were located within residential areas. Wherever we turned, we saw rubble; even drivers were dumping rubble wherever they saw fit, often on the sides of roads and in corners, to reduce costs. [...] You'd see it in gardens, around schools, our residential areas, tent sites, riverbeds, forest lands, our olive groves, agricultural lands, and our water sources, which were some of the most damaged." 

Erkenek says many other places away from the city could have been selected to dispose of debris. The site immediately next to the city was chosen for financial reasons: "They found and created a place closer to the city so that it would be economical. [...] So that they can save money."

A daunting suspicion

It's very difficult to uncover how the companies involved in the demolition, separation, transport and related activities were selected. While one can easily identify the small-level enterprises performing the physical work at the disposal sites – their company logos and names often appear on the vehicles – the larger companies who outsource this work to individual or small-scale independent contractors remain in the shadows.

A collaborative report by the Climate Justice Coalition and Ekoloji Birliği states that "[d]emolition and separation were subcontracted to companies through various tenders, and these companies, in turn, subcontracted the work to other companies," and that "[d]emolition works were carried out with a commercial-profit-oriented approach."

Even though Turkish law prescribes information on these tender processes to be available or provided upon request, none of this data is publicly available. Our requests to officials for more information have gone unanswered.

The environmental expert Karasu tells us that "no one has any information about how the selection process for the companies assigned to transport and clean the debris was carried out." They have no information about the conditions under which the tenders were made. Still, she suspects that companies close to the government are benefiting from the situation to obtain lucrative contracts.

Disregard for safety, laws and lack of community involvement

Residents and experts have detailed a troubling scenario of widespread pollution, a glaring disregard for environmental laws, and a notable absence of community involvement. 

At times, local activism has borne fruits. For instance, locals in Samandağ took a stand against the debris disposal site beside the stadium and wetlands. Through multiple protests, the community, alongside ecologists, has successfully halted the dumping process. This successful collective action prompted officials to reconsider their plans and search for an alternative site for waste disposal. For the most part, however, this is not the case.

In Adiyaman, local resident Mahmut Erkenek voices his frustration with the authorities' indifference to environmental concerns. "We have made complaints and objections, but they don't pay any attention," he recounts, highlighting the lack of meaningful communication with officials. Despite repeated attempts to sound the alarm, he feels authorities remain unconcerned, implying a significant disconnect between the community's worries and official actions. "They act like you're the bogeyman," he says of the authorities’ response to his complaints. "There was a disaster. Don't let a second one happen," he pleads.

Sometimes, vast debris sites are established right on the outskirts of settlements, exposing all the inhabitants to the dangers of dust and polluting the living areas and environment. This is the case in this settlement southwest of Antakya, which has experienced the growth of a disposal site of almost 40,000 square metres right at its doorstep. (Pin 04 on the map).

According to Nilgün Karasu, President of the Antakya Environmental Protection Association, "all NGOs, Chambers, Unions, and Ecology Organisations have been vigorously expressing their objections." Yet the authorities have responded silently or non-committal to their efforts. 

She particularly criticises a lack of adherence to safety and environmental standards. She says that "[a]bsolutely no safety measures were taken." As such, asbestos was not removed before demolition, no watering was done to prevent the spread of dust, and debris was transported in uncovered trucks, spreading toxic dust across the land.

According to her, workers weren’t guided in dealing with hazardous materials. They lacked even the most basic protective gear or training. She also notes that there were no officials or signs diverting people away from the toxic debris sites.

Professor Berkant Ödemiş adds to the chorus of concerns with observations from his visit to a local health centre in İskenderun, highlighting the obliviousness and vulnerability of those tasked with demolition. "Sir, we weren’t given anything," a team member told him, underscoring the lack of information, training, or protection against the risks of dust and debris. Ödemiş said no information was provided to workers on preventing dust dispersal during demolition or transportation – "they were just gathered and told to demolish."

Several Turkish laws strongly emphasise environmental protection, but these appear to be broken. Debris disposal was often done without regard to the natural environment or local inhabitants. The first-hand accounts paint a grim picture of environmental mismanagement, where a combination of neglect, inadequate response, and the absence of effective community engagement or oversight jeopardises the health and safety of communities and workers. 

A looming health disaster for up to three million people

So, where does this leave us? Widespread concerns about asbestos and other pollutants in the aftermath of the earthquake have led to a few investigations by experts, though a much more comprehensive study is urgently needed to obtain a full understanding.

A team of experts from the Turkish Chamber of Environmental Engineers collected dust samples in Hatay for Deutsche Welle, which were then analysed by an internationally accredited laboratory. They collected 45 samples from six different neighbourhoods in Hatay, 16 of which contained asbestos. Samples included dust collected from the tents inhabited by people displaced from their homes by the earthquake, as well as from leaves, fruit, soil and rubble.

A study carried out by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and the Clean Air Right Platform (THHP) analysed dust samples from Adıyaman centre, Kahramanmaraş centre, and the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaraş. Different types of asbestos were detected in two of 30 samples taken from Adıyaman, eight of 21 samples taken from Kahramanmaraş, and two of 15 samples from Elbistan.

This contradicts the statement of Mehmet Emin Birpinar, the then-Deputy Minister of Environment, who rejected concerns about the presence of asbestos in the air.

There have been no systematic reports concerning public health in the region since the earthquake, according to Karasu. Still, she asserts that especially during the summer, prior to the rainy season, those suffering from respiratory diseases have experienced severe problems. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, president of the Turkish Medical Association, stated as early as March 2023 that illnesses such as conjunctivitis, upper respiratory tract diseases and aphtha had increased greatly in the entire earthquake region.

An especially egregious example is in Samandağ, Hatay, on the coast near the Syrian border. The disposal site there is about 40,000 square metres big, and lies right between a major canal, a road and the coast. Significantly, the site is immediately next to a stadium which, for a time, hosted a camp for displaced people who lived in the middle of the toxic dust from the debris. (Pin 02 on the map).

The disposal site is also located near a particularly sensitive ecosystem: the protected Milleyha wetland, an area rich in biodiversity and home to multiple protected species. It is also a crucial stop for migratory birds. The introduction of non-native species through mixed debris can potentially disrupt local flora and fauna and affect the human population.

Karasu herself suffers from allergic asthma, and has felt the consequences of the dust on her health, needing to resort to much more medication during the post-earthquake period than she has in years. "You can really feel the air pollution when walking on the streets because you can't walk for long before you start choking," she says. "You can feel your face covered in dust, and when you touch your hair, you can feel it has become stiff and covered in dust from the day before."

“With an optimistic estimate, I would say that three million people will be sick," Mehmet Şeyhmus Ensari, civil engineer and Chairman of Türkiye’s Association of Asbestos Dismantling Experts, told Reuters reporters.

The long-term health and environmental impacts of the Turkish government’s chaotic response to the earthquake and its apparent lack of will to address citizen concerns will likely take time to become apparent. As the effects on the natural environment and on people’s health increase, a second disaster may hit in slow motion.

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