A DEVASTATING EVENT, FROM THE ASHES, RISE LIKE A PHOENIX

I had actually prepared one of my articles, which I wrote with joy and shared with you, to be published. The topic I had chosen was the feelings I experienced from a book I had read. What a coincidence, I was talking about nature there as well. My article was about reconnecting with nature. But now, unfortunately, I’m writing about another natural event, but this time, a painful disaster that burns our hearts.

06.02.2023 / 04:17

We woke up to a pitch-black day. Our souls are aching...

We unfortunately experienced the destructive power of the earthquake once again, we lost thousands of our people, and our pain is shared. I’m sure there isn’t a single person within the borders of this country who hasn’t felt that disaster when they closed their eyes, whose body didn’t tremble. From 1250 kilometers away from the earthquake zone, lying in our warm beds, ashamed of the bites we took, when we drank water, our hearts didn’t feel at ease, we burned. We felt guilty, our consciences cried.

How can this pain be described? I can’t find the right words, these feelings are indescribable, the place where words end...

So, who should we be angry at?

There were people, institutions, organizations that we criticized; we got angry, we complained, maybe even cursed. But our hearts still didn’t cool down. So, what should we do now? We need to look at how to act in such natural disasters.

We were deeply wounded. In these dark days, our nation once again wrote the book of helping, sharing, being one, uniting, and self-sacrifice. Everyone, from grocers to farmers, businessmen to retirees, miners to students, ran to help with both material and moral support, showing an example of social solidarity.

Solidarity, which has always been a very important value for our society, is essential for the existence of a community. The spirit of solidarity has a significant impact on rebuilding the forgotten values, emotions, and shaken spiritual values in society. Strengthening such spiritual emotions will also contribute to the peaceful, harmonious, and secure life of the community.

After such a large disaster, it is very important for individuals to understand each other, build bonds, and share common emotions. Sometimes, strengthening common values in society comes with remembering the shared pain from the past. For solidarity and cooperation to continue, there is a need to strengthen the spiritual emotions.

A quote from Necip Fazıl came to my mind. The quote goes: “If you know how to share, sharing bread is more delicious than the bread itself,” but our people already know this very well.

When we speak of disaster, we have unforgettable memories. We were once again reminded of the 1999 earthquake in our collective memory, and with the triggering of our trauma, the feelings this earthquake provoked became even deeper and more impactful. As in the 1999 earthquake, as an entire country, we showed an even stronger example of social solidarity. This kind of solidarity is definitely unique to the people of this land.

Our people, digging concrete with their hands, trying to save lives from the rubble, our firefighters, miners, volunteers, and NGOs were all familiar sights we saw.

We watched the heroic, superhuman efforts of the rescue teams for the lives trapped under the rubble, both on social media and TV screens. We prayed, and we did our best to help within our means.

We saw that our beloved animals didn’t leave the rubble. We even witnessed them leading their friends out of the debris, helping them to be saved.

The rescue teams worked tirelessly. Even days after the earthquake, we saw lives pulled from the rubble, witnessing miracles.

We saw how much the search and rescue dogs, working alongside the rescue teams, reached so many of our lives trapped underground.

We felt as if we were alongside the teams participating in the rescue operations, shared in their tears of joy and sorrow. Each one of them is a hero in the eyes of the people, risking their lives and leaving their families behind to run to the scene.

Now is the time to heal the wounds. Measures must be taken to help our people recover from the psychological effects of the earthquake as soon as possible. We need to show them that they are not forgotten, both as a state and as the Turkish nation.

There are lessons to be learned, of course, both as a state and as citizens, we have responsibilities. We all know that everyone must do their part in the light of science. Inadequacies and missed points should be reviewed, and necessary precautions should be taken without further delay.

I would like to share a piece of information I learned during a training session. The topic we discussed in the “Why don’t buildings collapse in the frequent earthquakes in Japan?” training was “Bushido’s 7 Virtuous Principles.” These virtues are honesty-justice, courage, compassion, politeness-courtesy, sincerity, honor, and duty-loyalty.

In the training, we discussed these in depth, but I leave the connection between these 7 basic spiritual emotions and earthquakes to you; it’s something worth pondering deeply.

It is often said that “Turkey is an earthquake country.” Even if we are an earthquake country, if everyone does their part in the best possible way, we can certainly minimize the risks before and after an earthquake through preventive measures. It is never too late; as long as we start, and grab hold of one end, the rest will follow.

As I end my writing:

I remember all of our lost lives with respect and mercy. May they rest peacefully in Heaven. For the wounded hearts left behind, nothing will be the same, and I deeply feel that.

With its soil, stones, traditions, and history, we are Anatolia. Of course, we will start again, rising from the ashes like the Phoenix.

We will renew hope for our children. I will continue to write hope in my name.

With love…

Seher BAKIM