President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the formation of a new disaster management council, signaling that Türkiye will immediately adopt a different approach to deal with natural disasters, as he said the government would cooperate with scientists and other experts to take concrete measures in the aftermath of the two catastrophic earthquakes that rocked the country's southeast on Feb. 6.
"Feb. 6 earthquakes will mark milestones in Türkiye. We will take steps to counter natural disasters with the contributions of scientists," Erdoğan told reporters in Istanbul on Friday.
He noted that the new approach would ensure that the country is prepared for natural disasters and overcomes such phenomena with minimum casualties and recovers fast.
Noting that he is pleased that scientists united around a common ground, the president said a Presidential Disaster Management Policy Council would be established.
"We are a country that needs to deal with various risks all at once, including disasters like floods and earthquakes, as well as terrorism," he said, adding that from now on, the country will have a clear view on how to deal with such calamities in a more practical and result-oriented manner.
Erdoğan on Friday chaired the first meeting for the "National Risk Shield Model" in Istanbul as the country mobilized experts to reduce fallout from disasters following the Feb. 6 earthquakes.
Nearly one month after the two deadly earthquakes claimed thousands of lives in Türkiye’s southeast, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday hosted a group of experts at the Dolmabahçe Presidential Office in Istanbul, a few days after he announced the launch of the program.
The model will guide Türkiye to review measures in areas under risk from disasters and include steps to be taken during and after the disasters. Scientists from around Türkiye and the world, and technical personnel from the country’s public agencies specialized in the prevention and reduction of fallout from disasters will be involved in shaping the model. The Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change will be coordinating the creation of the model.
Erdoğan said they also considered including more "crises" to combat while devising the risk model. "We should include planning against pandemics, terrorism, migration flow and economic crisis as well. We have to consider terrorism trouble we are exposed to due to the region's geopolitics and social chaos. We need to adapt an approach beyond politics," Erdoğan said. Along with the technical approach, the model will be derived from the views and proposals of sociology experts.