Marmara earthquake comment by IMM Assistant Secretary General: ‘National security issue’

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Deputy Secretary General Buğra Gökçe stated that one of the most risky regions in Turkey, where seismic measurements have been reintroduced after the Kahramanmaraş disaster, is the Marmara region, which is home to to approximately 25 million people, and said the expected earthquake here should be seen as a national security issue.

Stating that all institutions should consider their preparations from this perspective, Gökçe said that as IMM, they accelerated the works from construction checks to infrastructure works with the support of the Chamber of Civil Engineers. Regarding the financing of the preparations for the earthquake, Gökçe affirmed that as IMM they are reviewing the entire budget and that a change of priority will be made.

After the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes, attention turned to the Marmara earthquake, which scientists had warned about for many years. According to TUIK data, the share of Istanbul, Tekirdağ, Edirne, Kırklareli, Balıkesir, Çanakkale, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce and Yalova in the gross domestic product of TL 2 trillion in 2021 in the Marmara region is around 41 percent.

İBB Chairman Ekrem İmamoğlu is expected to make a press statement on Istanbul earthquake preparations tomorrow.

‘VERY HEAVY CONSEQUENCES THAT WILL LEAD TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE COUNTRY’

In an interview with Reuters, Gökçe said that the earthquake expected for Istanbul should not only be considered as “Istanbul” but “Marmara” and said: “There are at least 25 flights from Çanakkale to Tekirdağ to Istanbul, Kocaeli, Yalova to Balıkesir. It affects a population of millions of people” and drew attention to the fact that a very important part of the country’s gross domestic product and added value is produced in this region.

Gökçe said: “This is the industrial center. Here, a destruction of this magnitude can have much more severe consequences that can lead to the destruction of the country. In other words, an earthquake of this magnitude that could occur in the Sea of ​​Marmara in Istanbul is a national security problem. Therefore, our state must see this as a national security problem and transfer resources and priority here in case of mobilization, ”he said.

Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI) President Erdal Bahçıvan also noted that Istanbul is at the center of all processes in the country, from supply chains to finance, noting that a possible 7 magnitude earthquake, 5 planned in Istanbul will affect half of the national income. Bahçıvan said that there is an urgent need for an inventory study that will reveal the earthquake resistance status of industrial facilities in the city.

‘WE HAVE TO DO IT IN 5-6 YEARS’

Stating that the Istanbul earthquake is not something that the Istanbul Municipality or any ministry or institution can handle alone, Gökçe said, “If it had been done systematically for twenty-five years, many things would have gone further. But because the priority order was put in the right place and the first button didn’t load correctly, it couldn’t get here,” he said, adding:

“Now we have to look forward, and we have to transform this with the mobilization of all our institutions, all the institutions of our state and the ownership of our citizens, with policies that encourage and deter where appropriate, and we have to do this in the next five or six years.”

ISTANBUL CHANNEL WARNING

Gökce said that according to the law published in 2012 on the Transformation of Areas under Disaster Risk, “reserve” areas must be used for transportation from disadvantaged areas, and that the use of these areas for rental purposes also generates disturbances in urbanism. transformation.

Gökce also pointed out that the Kanal Istanbul project area, which is one of the government’s important projects, has been taken out of purpose, although it is a reserve area for disaster risk, stressing that this is a project that should not be be on the schedule

Gökçe stated that most of the places declared as reserve areas in Istanbul do not overlap with risk areas, saying: “In other words, what the plans we have for 20-25 years brought us should have been a framework in terms of transforming them. . But we do not take advantage of them by transforming them, but by opening up new areas for zoning, converting new areas or reserve areas and free public land into second or third residences. Someone turned it into an investment tool,” he said.

INFRASTRUCTURE PREPARATIONS

Noting that earthquake preparations do not consist only of construction-scale works, Gökçe stressed the importance of infrastructure works, determining and solving problems such as gas safety, water channels and transportation.

For the water infrastructure in Istanbul, Prof. Stating that an analysis of the consolidation of water pipes was carried out under the consultancy of Naci Görür, Gökçe also emphasized that natural gas is important for secondary disasters and said : “İGDAŞ has established an early warning system. in the Sea of ​​Marmara. In other words, when an earthquake warning is received, İGDAŞ can now cut off all gas,” he said, adding that they connected Metro AŞ with this İGDAŞ early warning system.

However, he stated that the most important infrastructure is electricity, and that other measures will remain weak if there is a problem, saying: “If we have a duty through our Ministry of Energy for the details of this for Istanbul, we are willing to do it. We offer it,” he said.

REQUEST FOR DETERMINATION OF BUILDING EXCEEDS 100 THOUSAND

Stating that the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s building identification page was blocked and there were more than 100,000 applications, Gökçe said, “I hope that after a month and a half, our citizens will not be able to calculate their square meters again.”

Stating that not only the building inspection but also the building conversion request made to Kiptaş blew up in Istanbul, Gökce said, “Citizens are looking for a reliable port… Since the fundraising projects started, the only address for The one that the citizen has been convicted of was the contractor.” He said that he activated KIPTAS, a subsidiary of IMM. (Reuters)