Ten days have passed since the greatest catastrophe in Türkiye’s history. The death toll exceeded 35,000 on Tuesday, as rescue workers performed miracles by pulling people alive from the rubble.

Meanwhile, there is a steady flow of aid to the disaster zone, attesting to the extraordinary solidarity among Turkish citizens. We have no choice but to keep that solidarity alive to heal the wounds of two major earthquakes and rebuild our devastated cities. We must continue helping the survivors. In fact, there is a need to develop a dynamic model to ensure that the donations correspond to people’s needs on the ground.

Right now, local residents need tents, containers and heaters. Over the next days and weeks, they will need to go back to normal and build permanent housing units. We must further promote disaster preparedness across the country and rebuild all affected cities in line with policies that reflect that consciousness. It is certainly good news that the earthquakes damaged none of the public housing projects.

Multiple topics to discuss

The latest disaster, which impacted some 13.5 million people, will influence Türkiye in multiple ways. Politicians and the media will inevitably criticize the state, the government and decision-makers. Assessing the level of preparedness and the government’s post-disaster performance fall within the limits of politics. It is also normal for the opposition to question the ruling party. Indeed, we are compelled to respect the anger of all citizens who lost their loved ones. It is the politicians' responsibility to face that anger and do his or her best to alleviate the pain.

However, three very serious problems have emerged in the aftermath of the twin earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş: