Turkey - TR

wiredseal7 said:Most of the footage shows buildings still standing despite the tremors, but then you see entire neighborhoods just wiped out—it's gut-wrenching. It’s pretty obvious we’re looking at negligent construction, likely driven by corruption and cutting corners on safety protocols. You shouldn't see a high-rise collapsing like a house of cards, especially when there isn't even visible damage.
The issue here is clearly inadequate support structures—those lower floors just give way under the massive weight they're supposed to be carrying.

I also get the feeling that the architects and developers behind those failed projects probably skipped town as fast as they could once the dust settled.

And they aren't the only ones to blame. The lion's share of the responsibility falls squarely on Erdogan's administration—they signed off on amnesty for illegally built structures, even though there were plenty of warnings beforehand.

What really kills me, though, is how poorly organized the rescue efforts have been, especially considering how much money was dumped into their disaster management agency. From what my friends tell me—people whose families are actually caught up in this—the situation on the ground is way more dire than what the news is showing.

Basically, help just isn't arriving. Erdogan didn't mobilize the military fast enough or in any meaningful capacity. Most of the rescue teams are heading toward the major metropolitan areas, leaving those "smaller" cities—you know, the ones with a hundred thousand people—completely abandoned. 😢

To top it all off, right in the middle of this chaos, Erdogan pops up with a warning, basically saying they’re busy compiling lists of "enemies of the state" in their little notebooks and everyone will pay the price. And now, Twitter has been censored in Turkey.

Meanwhile, over in Greece, PBS has started airing footage from the destroyed Turkish cities, calling for aid and playing "I Told the World I Love You." 🙂

I just hope the Turkish people realize who their real enemy is and hold this disgusting monster accountable for destroying them and dragging their reputation through the mud.

A catastrophe has just struck, and as the death toll rises and the scale of the damage becomes clearer, I find myself wondering how this will ultimately impact Turkey. On the domestic front, it seems like it might be quite difficult for Erdogan to consolidate his power leading up to the elections, especially since they were already grappling with such a severe economic crisis; things are likely to get pretty turbulent there. However, I’m more curious about the broader implications for Turkey's standing within NATO and its role in international relations, particularly regarding the war in Ukraine. Does anyone feel inclined to offer some analysis or perhaps share their predictions on where this might lead?

Over 15,000 people have already been pulled from the wreckage in Turkey and Syria, with about 12,000 of those victims found in Turkey alone. These numbers are absolutely staggering, and I guess we haven't even seen the worst of it yet. It’s just... unbelievable. The sheer scale of this earthquake is catastrophic.

Hannah Stewart said:A catastrophe has just struck, and as the death toll rises and the scale of the damage becomes clearer, I find myself wondering how this will ultimately impact Turkey. On the domestic front, it seems like it might be quite difficult for Erdogan to consolidate his power leading up to the elections, especially since they were already grappling with such a severe economic crisis; things are likely to get pretty turbulent there. However, I’m more curious about the broader implications for Turkey's standing within NATO and its role in international relations, particularly regarding the war in Ukraine. Does anyone feel inclined to offer some analysis or perhaps share their predictions on where this might lead?

Personally, I don't think the earthquake itself will have any direct impact or consequences at all.

Indirectly, it might only matter if Erdogan loses the election because of the disaster and we end up seeing a change in leadership in Turkey... though I'm not entirely sure how realistic that actually is...

Over 17,000 dead in Turkey
https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/l...&utm_term=link

A contact I have in Turkey mentioned they’re still searching for roughly 120,000 people. I can't say for certain how much weight that carries...

It turns out a whole bunch of details are coming to light regarding the absolute disaster that was the response from FEMA—the agency that supposedly sat on its hands for hours just waiting for a green light from the higher-ups (and get this, the guy running the show is a Republican Party appointee who’s more of a theologian than an emergency expert!!!). Honestly, it's just pathetic and completely inexcusable.

They’re saying back in '99, the military was deployed within two hours—now it’s taking two whole days... I just can't wrap my head around it...

Gary Palmer8 said:They’re saying back in '99, the military was deployed within two hours—now it’s taking two whole days... I just can't wrap my head around it...

I mean, Izmit is closer to the epicenter than Joe Anatolije, and back then, the military actually had some teeth—it wasn't bogged down by the same kind of incompetent infiltration we see today.

Honestly, that '99 quake triggered such massive political shifts in the country that it basically paved the way for the Republican Party to take over. If there's any silver lining to be found in a disaster like this, maybe it's time for a similar shake-up to happen again.

Turkey turns down aid from Cyprus

Jamie Fox60 said:My point isn't really about providing immediate aid, but rather about looking toward the future and ensuring we prioritize strict building codes and seismic safety standards, because that lack of preparation is exactly what turned this into such a massive tragedy! If a quake of this magnitude had struck Japan, the impact would have been significantly less severe due to those protections.

Just look at what the earthquake experts in the Japanese media are saying right now. They're basically saying that if a quake this powerful hits a populated area once every thousand years—and that's assuming it's not always a shallow epicenter—they'll be ready. After what happened in Kobe, where the energy release and depth were about 15 times smaller than this disaster in Turkey, they actually went out and retrofitted buildings to meet much higher standards based on what they learned.

But honestly? Trying to pull that off in impoverished countries or struggling regions before a "once in a lifetime" disaster strikes is a massive question mark. It's hard to say if it's even possible.

We're talking a 7.8 magnitude, a shallow depth, a massive fault line, high population density, poverty, and a huge influx of refugees... it's just a perfect storm.

Reports are coming in that the US Army has arrived in Turkey with 45 tons of gear and 82 soldiers from the US Army Disaster Response Force, but they've had to halt rescue efforts because the security situation just went south...
There’s talk of clashes breaking out between different groups, though there aren't any specifics on who's fighting who or why.

11:44am: US army suspends Turkey quake rescue

Sam Alvarez4 said:Reports are coming in that the US Army has arrived in Turkey with 45 tons of gear and 82 soldiers from the US Army Disaster Response Force, but they've had to halt rescue efforts because the security situation just went south...
There’s talk of clashes breaking out between different groups, though there aren't any specifics on who's fighting who or why.

11:44am: US army suspends Turkey quake rescue

The German rescuers are also pulling out...

darkjackal70 said:The German rescuers are also pulling out...

It’s all so confusing. I mean, who in their right mind would attack rescuers?

The only thing that makes sense to me is that they just happened to cross paths with some criminals who were out looting and causing chaos...

12:23am: Turkey to act against those involved in looting, says Erdogan

Sam Alvarez4 said:It’s all so confusing. I mean, who in their right mind would attack rescuers?

The only thing that makes sense to me is that they just happened to cross paths with some criminals who were out looting and causing chaos...

12:23am: Turkey to act against those involved in looting, says Erdogan

The reality is there simply aren't enough rescuers or the specialized heavy machinery required—they arrive at a single village or neighborhood and spend hours trying to dig under one specific building. Just lifting a single floor of concrete is an immense task, not to mention the digging, drilling, and the constant struggle to maintain stable trenches on the perimeter. People from neighboring buildings start demanding that resources be diverted to them, and honestly? Even if you had ten times the number of responders and all the gear in the world, it still wouldn't be enough. The German team spent two grueling days working on one single structure just to reach one woman in her 40s—who, tragically, passed away in the hospital last night.

A German correspondent mentioned that about an hour before the live broadcast, a man was actually waving a handgun around, threatening that they needed to start searching under the specific building where his family was trapped. That happened three days ago—so can you imagine what the atmosphere is like now, when everyone knows the final survivors trapped under the rubble are likely dying at this very moment? It’s heartbreaking, and quite possibly hundreds—if not thousands—of people have been slowly dying in the days following the earthquake. Personally, I believe there could still be anywhere from 10 to 100 people alive out there.

The local population probably realizes that the international teams are better trained and possess superior equipment—dogs, sensors, the works—so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if those foreign teams face even more intense pressure than the local American rescuers might in a similar crisis.

FEMA has massive scale, but look at the German organization—it has 80,000 members, mostly volunteers, with an annual budget of roughly $900 million. I have no idea why Germany only sent 50 people. The same logic seems to apply to many other major nations.

I’m sure the first responders on the ground are doing everything humanly possible; the only real limitation here is likely just the sheer number of people available to help.

Clearing out collapsed buildings is an incredibly grueling and slow process. A lot of people seem to think you can just roll up with a bulldozer and start digging until you hit someone, and just keep going like that. It’s not that simple.

The death toll over in Turkey has climbed to somewhere around 30,000 now...

May they rest in peace. Such a massive tragedy.

That’s why we need strict laws regarding urban planning, infrastructure quality, building standards, houses, everything. A huge chunk of these deaths happened because of shoddy construction and illegal builds.

loneskipper3 said:The reality is there simply aren't enough rescuers or the specialized heavy machinery required—they arrive at a single village or neighborhood and spend hours trying to dig under one specific building. Just lifting a single floor of concrete is an immense task, not to mention the digging, drilling, and the constant struggle to maintain stable trenches on the perimeter. People from neighboring buildings start demanding that resources be diverted to them, and honestly? Even if you had ten times the number of responders and all the gear in the world, it still wouldn't be enough. The German team spent two grueling days working on one single structure just to reach one woman in her 40s—who, tragically, passed away in the hospital last night.

A German correspondent mentioned that about an hour before the live broadcast, a man was actually waving a handgun around, threatening that they needed to start searching under the specific building where his family was trapped. That happened three days ago—so can you imagine what the atmosphere is like now, when everyone knows the final survivors trapped under the rubble are likely dying at this very moment? It’s heartbreaking, and quite possibly hundreds—if not thousands—of people have been slowly dying in the days following the earthquake. Personally, I believe there could still be anywhere from 10 to 100 people alive out there.

The local population probably realizes that the international teams are better trained and possess superior equipment—dogs, sensors, the works—so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if those foreign teams face even more intense pressure than the local American rescuers might in a similar crisis.

FEMA has massive scale, but look at the German organization—it has 80,000 members, mostly volunteers, with an annual budget of roughly $900 million. I have no idea why Germany only sent 50 people. The same logic seems to apply to many other major nations.

I didn't realize that, it never crossed my mind.
But I truly get the desperation those people are feeling, especially if your child is under those ruins and you know their final moments are slipping away...

However, there's a darker side: organized crime and rival gangs taking advantage of the chaos to loot and pillage during such a tragedy.
I can't even wrap my head around people like that. Throw them in prison and toss away the key!

Also, there's all this current targeting of Syrian refugees by the Turkish population.

It's like the worst parts of humanity surface exactly when we need solidarity the most...

There's this video going around showing the police in Turkey absolutely laying into some caught thieves with batons. Real heroic stuff, right? I guess that's just how they handle law and order over there.