Members of chambers, exchanges and industrial zones in southern Türkiye have left their productions aside and are instead engaged in helping to relieve survivors of catastrophic earthquakes that struck on Monday.
The confirmed death toll from quakes and multiple strong aftershocks that struck 10 Turkish cities, as well as neighboring Syria, rose to more than 8,500 people on Wednesday. The tally was expected to rise as thousands of buildings are confirmed to have collapsed, with rescue teams racing against time to pull survivors from under the rubble.
Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Adana in the west to Diyarbakır in the east and countless have been left homeless.
Many survivors have had to sleep in cars and in shelters set up by government authorities across the region.
Members of Türkiye's business world have pledged to dispatch hundreds of trucks loaded with urgently needed supplies and equipment, including cranes and excavators, to assist in the massive relief operation.
Diyarbakır Commerce and Industry Chamber Chair Mehmet Kaya said industrialists in the region had paused their productions for a week and instead went on to allocate their factories for the survivors.
Kaya confirmed there were cracks but said there was no severe damage when it comes to the industrial facilities in the province.
“Our industrialists have suspended production for a week and are currently using their factories for the housing and food needs of the victims of the earthquake,” he noted.
“The facilities in both the organized industrial zone and the textile organized industrial zone meet the housing and food needs together with the schools ... We were very well organized in Diyarbakır,” Kaya said.
He stressed coordination and said efforts would also be directed toward other neighboring provinces.
“Now we will try to help the surrounding provinces. We are also meeting with our other chamber presidents. We have directed the construction machinery there,” he said.
“It is not the work that the state will do alone. If nongovernmental organizations, industrial organizations, AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority), governorship and municipality all work together, we will overcome this problem. Partial works won't help.”
In contrast, the quake toppled several factories in Kahramanmaraş, considered to be the epicenter of the devastating earthquake.
Among them are ones owned by Kahramanmaraş Trade Exchange Head Mustafa Narlı, who confirmed severe damage in the province, yet said they were now focused only on efforts to aid survivors.
“There are also my own facilities, factories,” said Narlı, reporting on the collapsed structures. “I went to one, I couldn't go to the others. We're dealing with people's problems right now. We are directing urgent needs such as food, blankets.”
He called on the business world to join hands and help heal wounds together.
"I appeal to business people to send us rations, blankets and heaters quickly, not by trucks, but by minibuses."
“We are in urgent need of provisions, blankets and heaters right now ... The distribution of the supplies arriving by trucks is getting too late, we call on businesspeople and industrialists to send these materials to us quickly by minibuses. There is a very serious wound here, let's heal it together.”
Elsewhere, industrialists in neighboring Malatya are shipping urgently needed supplies from surrounding regions.
“We are trying to distribute bread and food to our people by bringing them from the surrounding provinces. But there is very serious damage. We lost our cousins in this earthquake. Our building was seriously damaged,” said Malatya Commerce and Industry Chamber Chair Oğuzhan Ata Sadıkoğlu.
“We ask that the support from the surrounding provinces be delivered to people quickly,” he stressed.
Sadıkoğlu confirmed issues in production due to disruptions in the flow of electricity and natural gas, saying output in the region was at 25%.
The quakes inflicted severe damage in Adıyaman as well, where officials said as few as 10 factories have collapsed.
“Our city has been pretty damaged. A lot of apartments were razed to the ground. God willing, this will also pass,” said Adıyaman Organized Industrial Zone President Abdulkadir Çelenk, stressing it was difficult to estimate the size of the destruction.
“About 10 of our factories have been destroyed in our province. There are many garment factories throughout the province. My olive oil factory was destroyed too. We're not in a position to work for a long time,” Çelenk added.
Adana is said to be in slightly better shape compared to other provinces.
“As industrialists, we do not have a request and demand from the state at the moment. On the contrary, we are trying to do what we can to help our state, authorized institutions and organizations,” said Adana Hacı Sabancı Organized Industrial Zone Head Bekir Sütçü.
Sütçü said the province had no issues when it comes to power and natural gas supplies, also noting that there was no damage reported in the organized industrial zone.
“There are no obstacles to production. There are some of our citizens, their families affected by the earthquake. Among them are those who died, those who were injured. That is why the working environment in our OIZ (Organized Industrial Zone) is currently at a minimum level,” he noted.
“We are currently working at 20%-25% capacity.”
