More than 70,000 people were received in the space of a week in this region of southern Turkey. But earthquake survivors are well aware that this accommodation is only temporary.
Long tables loaded with toys, biscuits and cold drinks await them upon their arrival at the airport of Antalya, a seaside town in southwestern Turkey, on the shores of the Mediterranean. The victims of the earthquakes of February 6, which ravaged part of the south of the country as well as the north of Syria, are received there by volunteers. With its beaches, cliffs and climate popular with holidaymakers, Antalya is a top tourist destination in Turkey. But since the disaster, the region has seen an influx of more and more earthquake survivors. In total, more than 72,000 people have already been able to find accommodation in the province, according to the authorities, who rely on the many hotels in the area. Among the first to react is the Özkaymak Falez Hotel, a five-star hotel, which now houses 96 victims.
“Barely an hour after the earthquake, our network opened rooms in hotels in Mersin, Adana, Van and Diyarbakir”, recounts Hüseyin Çiçek, CEO of the Özkaymak hotel group. The solidarity then spread to establishments further west, including this imposing seaside complex. The first “guests”, as the manager calls the victims he is hosting, were a group of teenagers Hatay province, who were participating in a martial arts competition near Antalya at the time of the earthquake. “We said to ourselves that these young people had surely lost everything, their house, perhaps members of their family, says Hüseyin Çiçek. It was out of the question for them to go back there, in the middle of the rubble.”
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Over the following days, about twenty families pushed the door of the Falez hotel, often after a difficult journey by bus or car. “The roads were destroyed because of the earthquake, we drove eighteen or twenty hours”, recalls Ali, 49, who fled Antioch with his elderly parents and part of his family. For two days, they first slept in a tent, before being transported to Antalya. “It was very cold at night, it was unlivablesays the man in a wheelchair. We have lost everything. The things I have, the clothes I wear today, everything was given to me here.”
A free reception, but not sustainable
To accommodate the disaster victims, the Falez hotel does not receive any external aid or government subsidies. “We are in good financial health, so we are doing it with our own funds”, emphasizes Hüseyin Çiçek. Displaced families can eat for free at the hotel buffet and have access to a space on the ground floor where donations of clothing, in particular, are stored. “Normally, it’s our shop, explains the boss. We emptied it, but we kept this idea of a store, so that people could come and help themselves, without it looking too much like a humanitarian distribution.” The system aims above all to preserve the dignity of the victims. In addition to housing and food, the displaced families are receiving medical attention and psychologists have come to visit the younger ones.
“Our children were already shy, but since the earthquake, they don’t talk much”, tell Aziz and Sehnaz, a couple who had to leave the city of Adana, a hundred kilometers as the crow flies from the epicenter of the earthquake. Sitting on the hotel terrace with their 13-year-old son Kenan and their 3-year-old daughter Melinay, they recall their journey to Antalya. “All we were looking for was to get away from the earthquake zone”, explains Aziz, who worked as a salesman. His company lent him a car, in which his family slept before hitting the road without a specific destination. “Looking at a map, I saw that Antalya was outside the risk zone”, recalls Sehnaz. She found this accommodation in Falez, thanks to the dedicated page of a hotel reservation website. “We are relieved to be here”entrusts the family, which however remains in the “complete blur”.
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“The government made announcements, they promised to give money so that we could rebuild our houses, but we have no more information”, laments Aziz. His family, like all the others staying in the hotel, is registered with Afad, the official Turkish relief organization. But the prospects are limited. “Everyone here has one question on their minds: ‘How do we get home? And what next?'” Says Sehnaz. From Antalya, the couple are looking for alternative accommodation and considering contacting distant cousins, without much hope.
“Rents are very high, especially in the Antalya region. Are we going to have to live in a caravan?”
Aziz, 51, earthquake survivorat franceinfo
The family knows that they will be able to stay at the Falez Hotel until “end of March”, as assured by the CEO of the hotel group. And after ? “It’s going to get complicated for us.slips Hüseyin Çiçek. The season will resume and we already had reservations from abroad, for tourists and groups.” The strong mobilization of hotels in the sector, which were sometimes closed during the winter season, as pointed out by the governor of Antalya (In turkish)has its limits. “The situation is more difficult in small hotels, notes Hüseyin Çiçek. We should think about help to pay for the rooms, or at least take care of the heating and electricity bills.” On this point, the hotel manager expects “government solutions”.
A sports club turned accommodation center
To welcome the disaster victims, the main players in Antalya are acting collectively. On the morning of the disaster, the AntalyaSpor club, which brings together several disciplines including football under its red and white banner, decided to convert its facilities into dormitories and living quarters. From, “230 people have already gone through our structure and 140 are currently staying with us”, details Mustafa Türker, vice-president of the club. The operation was set up “very quickly”, he congratulates himself. “Helping each other is part of our sporting values, and as a club, we can do without bureaucracy to act as quickly as possible.”
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AntalyaSpor employees transformed the buildings in a matter of days. The volleyball team office has become a coordination center. The relaxation lounge for young players is now a playroom for the 39 children received in emergency. While the coaches take care of the families, the club doctor voluntarily monitors those who have arrived with injuries. On the ground floor, boxes of strollers are piled up next to piles of diapers and various hygiene products. Upstairs, clothing donations are sorted by two employees, who have put their files on hold to help the survivors.
“For my part, I am responsible for around twenty people who sleep in the gymnasium”explains Can Bekrioğlu, usually in charge of the club’s international relations. “They can ask me anything. In one phone call, I find them what they want.” With a determined step, he walks around the building, shakes hands, checks in. In the space of a week, the young man established links with certain victims, “those who want to speak well”like Hilal, 22, a construction worker, and her cousin Dogukan, a 25-year-old student.
“We live day by day”
“Here is all the help we need”, says Hilal, who could not take anything from the ruins of his home in Antioch. Around the young woman, in the refectory of the club converted into a living space, several families are chatting, in Turkish or Arabic. The atmosphere is heavy, weighed down by the images of devastated cities which turn on a loop on the television installed in a corner of the room.“We live day by day”, breathes Dogukan, looking gloomy. On his phone, he keeps trying photos that he does not hesitate to show, as if to prove what he is saying. We see victims, placed in body bags just in front of their collapsed building. The young man considers himself “lucky” : he has not lost relatives.
“What scares us the most is the future, the fact of not being able to project ourselves.”
Hilal, 22, earthquake survivorat franceinfo
By providing aid to those displaced by the disaster, the employees of the AntalyaSpor club take the measure of the psychological trauma. So many invisible wounds with which we must deal. “We avoid throwing toys, for example, because the impact noises are very scary for children”, explains Elif, 24, a volleyball coach in normal times. Bags in hand, she returns from an outing to the playground, where she noticed two types of behavior among the youngest. “There are those who don’t really understand, who are happy to be taken care of so much, she describes. And then there are those who are mute… But you can clearly see the concern in their eyes.” To provide the best possible support for minor disaster victims, a booklet of good practices published by Unicef circulates within the club.
“These people have lost everything, they often only have their car left, parked in the street. Some arrived in pajamas, because the earthquake took place in the early morning”, says Can Bekrioğlu, his gaze suddenly blank. AntalyaSpor will however have to whistle the end of the device in the near future. “We are only a club after all, and competitions will resume in a few weeks”, justifies the direction. Like hotel managers, the sports association hopes that the government will be present when it comes to handing over solidarity.