The worst earthquake in history caused widespread destruction in Turkey and Syria. In order to deal with this disaster, Syria cannot get rid of the sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council at the global level, but due to these sanctions, this country is facing numerous difficulties. However, Syria can avoid the bilateral sanctions that the US has imposed on it. Millions of Syrian refugees are also in other countries, including Turkey, which were badly affected by the earthquake.
There was a big earthquake in Pakistan in 2005, which caused massive loss of life and property, but the magnitude of the earthquake that happened in Turkey is more than ours. Turkey was hit by the worst earthquake due to its location on the earthquake fault line. However, the important thing in this regard is that in a country like Turkey with a developed and relatively strong economic situation, if the construction of buildings was done from the point of view of earthquake safety, there would never have been such a large-scale loss of life.
At the time of the earthquake, heartbreaking videos from Turkey went viral on social media, which show that during the earthquake, multi-storied buildings collapsed one after another like a wall of sand, and people had to escape from their debris. They were seen running from one place to another, but those who were in such buildings, thousands of them are still buried under the debris, and rescue operations are underway to pull them out.
Our country Pakistan is also located on the fault line and we need more measures than Turkey to make buildings safe from earthquakes. In 2005, when there was an earthquake in Pakistan and villages were wiped out, Turkish rescue personnel were the first to help Pakistan and they did not hesitate to sacrifice their lives. On the occasion of the earthquake, tons of relief goods were sent in airplanes from both Pakistan and Turkey to each other.
Whenever there is a natural calamity and loss of lives in any country, all the people forget the disputes of borders and ideologies and come together in the earthquake or calamity hit country and start helping the suffering people. The situation is similar during the earthquakes in Pakistan in 2005 and in Turkey and Syria in 2023. In Turkey, rescue personnel from more than 100 countries were busy evacuating people buried under the debris. The rescue team of Pakistan has completed its operation while major rescue operations were also carried out by other countries.
In addition to the earthquake, the international community helps each other in other disasters, but in the context of the fraternal relations between Pakistan and Turkey, many Pakistanis are taking the lead in helping Turkey. The Turkish people and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have thanked the Pakistani government and people for helping the earthquake victims. There were also instances when people buried in the earthquake for several hours, even more than 200 hours, managed to get out alive, however, with the passage of time, more such hopes are dying.
In the past, Muslims from the region of the subcontinent, which is now Pakistan, arrived in Turkey to participate in the war of independence fought from 1919 to 1923. Even today, the people of Turkey remember this incident and are grateful for the enthusiasm, brotherhood and goodwill of the Pakistani nation. In this war, women also gave priority to Turkey’s aid by selling their jewelry. Just as the people trapped in the rubble after the earthquake were pulled out alive after a long time, the enthusiasm of the survivors also shows how much hope they had in Allah.
Many such people had come close to death, but Allah blessed countless people with life once again. Even after rescuing earthquake victims, Turkey and Syria will continue to face major crises, including the recovery of earthquake victims and the country’s infrastructure. Earthquake victims also include people who will suffer from long-term trauma, physical disabilities, or injuries. It will be the responsibility of the concerned rulers to provide all possible assistance to such persons.
The number of injured people went from thousands to millions. Many people have become unemployed. The main buildings of many companies were destroyed by the earthquake. It will cost billions of dollars to restore all the infrastructure. After the earthquake or last year’s floods in other cities including Balakot and Bagh in Pakistan, the infrastructure restoration work could not be completed. 17 years have passed since the 2005 earthquake, but there are no signs of completion of infrastructure restoration, and earthquake victims are still waiting for more aid.
Regional organizations are created under Chapter 8 of the United Nations Charter. They have collaborative options.
Similarly, members of the international community, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, NATO, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United States, must play their maximum role in assisting Turkey so that the earthquake-stricken people of Turkey can move towards recovery.
Translated by MM News editorial team.
