Wu Jungang column
In the early morning of February 6, when most people were still sleeping, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in the southeast of Turkey near the Syrian border. Tens of thousands of private houses collapsed, and many people were buried in rubble.Türkiye's 10 provinces were affected and more than 40,000 people have died so far.The Turkish government estimates that more than 9 million people are directly affected by this rare disaster.Nearly 6,000 people were killed in the Syrian side, and more than 5 million people were displaced.The World Health Organization estimates that the affected people may be as many as 23 million.
The United Nations statement pointed out that the earthquake occurred in the winter, which led to hundreds of thousands of people, including children and the elderly, and could not obtain residence, food, water, heating equipment and medical services in severe cold.About 47,000 buildings, including schools, hospitals, and other basic service places, were destroyed or damaged.Due to the serious disaster situation, the area of disaster areas is vast, and the disaster relief work is difficult.
From TV news reports, we can see a large horror picture of a large residential area.This is the largest earthquake in Türkiye and Syria for a century.What the victims and victims do must be stunned by such disasters!For Turkish Syrian, this is not alone.The Turkish border and domestic refugees from tens of thousands of refugees from all directions have been stretched. Since 2018, it has been caught in a currency and debt crisis. How can they have the ability to rebuild the disaster area?
Syria is a broken country. It has been fighting for nearly 12 years. It is also the wrestling field of the American camp and Russia. So far, the war has not been extinguished.Within the control scope of the rebels, the rescue of the external rescue was not enough.There are tens of thousands of refugees who have escaped from war in the Tuxu border. They temporarily live in a humble camp. Now they have encountered the damage of the earthquake.The victims who did not die can only cry and lament.
Although there are countries around the world, the Singapore Civil Defense Force also dispatched a rescue team, but there are very few rescued people.Developers claim that the peaceful houses that can prevent earthquake -proof buildings are unshakable, and the quality of the building and the government's management and control have caused questioning and anger.The government had to take action to soothe, and set up a department for investigating earthquake -related crimes in 10 provinces affected by the earthquake.The Turkish City Minister pointed out that officially inspected nearly 17,200 buildings in 10 provinces and found that about 25,000 buildings were severely damaged or urgently needed to be demolished.
Turkish President Erdogan claims that the government will ensure that no one will be homeless.As for how to do it, it is unknown.Turkey does not have a plan similar to Singapore's "residential house", and naturally the victims will not have the dream of living in a house in the future.Some real estate developers estimate that Turkey needs to build about 1 million new houses in 10 provinces that encounter strong earthquakes.House developer and investor association chairman Elmar said that most buildings still stand must also be demolished.It is estimated that the construction cost is $ 100 billion (about S $ 133.5 billion).
In front of it, the survivors who have lost their homes are fortunate if there is a tent temporarily inhabited.The Saudi Arabia government intends to help Turkey build 3,000 temporary residences.Sadness, but it can be described as a lot of money.Turkey's land is more than 780,000 square kilometers, and the population is nearly 85 million.
Although it is a member of NATO, it does not seem to get much economic help, because NATO is busy dealing with the various consequences brought by the Russian and Ukraine War.
Turkey and Syria in Syrian southeast are Muslim countries. The two countries also have a common border of about 900 kilometers. It should be the state of brothers, but it is not the case.There were many grievances between the two countries. After the civil war broke out in Syria, the Turkish relations deteriorated and interrupted the diplomatic relations every other year.Last year, under the mediation of Russia, the two countries resumed official contact, and there were signs of recovery in bilateral relations.
But the geopolitical chessboard of the Middle East, the various political games are complicated, and the various grievances between Tuxu seem to be difficult to resolve in the short term.For example, it is tricky to Turkey like the Kurdish problem that is pierced on his back.The Kurds are scattered in the borders of the country, Syria, and Iraq, and these areas are places where the Islamic State Extreme Organization (ISIS) forces are entangled.The two are like water and fire.Syria supports a party representing the Kurds, and Turkey supports the rebels of anti -Syrian President Assad.However, Türkiye also collects the most Syrian refugees.
In addition, there are fierce games between the United States and Russia in this region.The United States is involved in the deepest in the Middle East, such as invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, which has reduced the two countries to a broken country.The United States also intended to overthrow the Assad regime, so it strongly support the Syrian rebels; Russia strongly supports Assad.During his former President Trump and the current President Biden, the U.S. military successively withdrew from Iraq and Afghanistan, so there was a new change in the Middle East.
The Middle East is still messy to this day, and the war of the agent is also fought in the civil war. The human disasters are still frequent, the natural disasters and natural disasters and human disasters are superimposed.Now the United States transfers military strength and attention to deal with Russia and China. Can the Arab world have a peaceful transfer?God knows.
At present, Turkish Syrian faces the endless situation of how to clean up after the disaster, and the strength and resources of the two countries are obviously unable to cope.Therefore, the United Nations has issued a call for fundraising recently, hoping to raise 400 million and $ 1 billion for Syria and Turkey, respectively.UN Secretary -General Gutres promoted the international community to step up efforts to provide sufficient funds for disaster relief.Immediately afterwards, the World Health Organization also issued a new appeal last Friday (February 18), hoping that countries will continue to generously solve their generously and raise $ 84.5 million in medical donations to rescue the victims.
This is a humanitarian crisis, but a country that has the ability to assist, but because of political factors, it is unable to work together to rescue them. It is really sorrowful.Especially Syria has almost become abandoned in the Western world. Although the United States has hindered the pressure of public opinion, it has announced that it has not given too many actual assistance to the suspension of sanctions on Syria for 180 days.The medical assistance to Syria by WHO mainly uses the power of China.Chinese official media pointed out that Syria was "ignored by Western collectives" and humanitarian assistance was also politicized.
But all this is unable to control the victims.For them, it is a lot of difficulty to escape a robbery, but how to survive is a big problem.They expect sufficient food and drugs, as well as a temporary living place.It is a blessing to get a tent.
Singaporeans do not understand what the earthquake is, and did not witness the tragedy area in the disaster area. Therefore, this big earthquake does not seem to affect the hearts of Singaporeans.However, the Singapore Civil Defense Force, which was sent to the Turkish disaster area, must have a very deep feeling.They penetrate into the disaster area, adventure to save people, seeing the tragic situation, can return safely, will definitely be very grateful.We can live outside the earthquake belt, which is a kind of happiness in itself; there is no natural disaster and no disaster, and it is even more happy.
The author is a former journalist, a former member of the Congress
All of these are unable to control the victims.For them, it is a lot of difficulty to escape a robbery, but how to survive is a big problem.They expect sufficient food and drugs, as well as a temporary living place.It is a blessing to get a tent.
