A disaster on the daunting scale of the earthquakes that have devastated large areas of Turkey and Syria has global reverberations. Just as rescuers briefly halt their work to listen in silence for voices beneath the rubble, so do the shockwaves of tragedy cause ordinary citizens in far-distant countries to momentarily pause their daily lives. Old prejudices fall away, cynical habits of insouciance are broken. All may sense the victims’ torment. Their cry for help, appealing to our common humanity, is universally heard.
Such a cry cannot and must not be ignored – and, judging by the generous international response so far, it has not been. A public fund launched by the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee raised more than £30m in its first day. Dozens of countries, including Turkey’s old foe, Greece, swiftly provided assistance. Despite political obstacles, limited aid convoys into Idlib province, in north-west Syria, have resumed. UN and World Bank officials have pledged backing for recovery efforts that are expected to last years.
The UN is facing criticism for not moving quickly enough – a familiar complaint. The efforts of many aid agencies and NGOs, including specialist first responders from Britain, have been heroic. But the task ahead is formidable – and international offers of support and solidarity will need to be sustained once the dust settles. For those who died – the present total is more than 24,000 – the struggle is over. But for the uncounted thousands who were injured, and for grieving families and relatives shattered by crushing loss, the long-term traumatic effects may never be wholly overcome.
A lack of medical facilities, clean drinking water, basic foodstuffs, safe shelter, sanitation and heating in the depths of winter poses the most immediate test. How this urgent challenge is met will increasingly depend on the Turkish and Syrian governments, neither of whose initial performance has impressed. “More help is on the way, but much more, much more is needed,” warned António Guterres, UN secretary-general. The World Health Organization estimates that 23 million people, including 1.4 million children, may require long-term assistance.
In shattered Turkish cities such as Antakya, ancient capital of Hatay province, it is difficult to see how rebuilding can even begin. Most of the city’s historic centre has been levelled as if, in the words of a western reporter, it had been carpet-bombed. The absence of government leadership and organised rescue plans, freezing conditions, no electricity, no fuel and the risk of further building collapses are conspiring to turn misery and despair into understandable public anger.
In government-controlled areas of Syria, too, anguish is mixed with fury at the inadequate response of Bashar al-Assad’s illegitimate regime in Damascus. Syria’s second city, Aleppo, which suffered terribly during the civil war, has taken another dreadful beating. Likewise, in rebel-held Idlib, the impact of the unfinished fight with Syrian, Russian and Iranian forces has been exacerbated by the quakes. About 2.7 million people already depended on outside aid. Their need is now acute. Worse, the injured and sick lack hospitals and clinics. Why? Because the Russians bombed them and killed their staff.
True to form, Assad has tried to shift blame, complaining that US and western sanctions are hindering relief efforts. In point of fact, US sanctions exempted humanitarian aid and were further relaxed last week. Assad has now reportedly agreed to the opening of relief routes from government-controlled territory into rebel-held areas. Years of grim experience show this despicable dictator cannot be trusted to keep his word or help his people.
It can be argued that the democratic west’s failure to bring Assad and his war criminal cronies to justice – and to force an end to the siege of Idlib – has indirectly worsened the impact of today’s emergency. That said, no one should be under any illusion, in respect of the war’s legacy, that the principal villain is Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. It was Putin who ordered the merciless bombing of Syrian civilians. He continues to obstruct aid agency access to Idlib at the UN. Without Putin’s backing, Assad would most likely be deposed, in jail – or dead.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, has numerous questions to answer, too, over the speed and effectiveness of his government’s response and over negligent official regulation, planning, enforcement and “amnesty” rules that permitted the construction of thousands of substandard apartment and office blocks, schools and hospitals. Previous earthquakes brought promises of improved government oversight. Endemic high-level corruption ensured these promises were not kept. A special earthquake fund was set up, but no one will say where the money went. Erdoğan styles himself Turkey’s paramount leader. So the buck stops with him.
Will he take responsibility? Speaking during a visit to Adıyaman province, Erdoğan conceded the authorities’ response was not moving fast enough. But typically, he blamed others – principally opposition parties, whose justifiable criticism he called politically motivated. Lack of democratic accountability is the hallmark of Erdoğan’s authoritarian rule. This disaster has exposed its corrosive effects for all to see. A loss of public confidence in his leadership, coinciding with his declaration of a three-month state of emergency, has raised fears he may postpone May’s national elections.
That’s a worry for another day. Now, the focus, domestic and international, must be on reaching and caring for survivors and victims in both Turkey and Syria. Their cry for help has been heard. It echoes around the globe. Our thoughts, and those of a watching world, are with them.
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