Minister vows to show no mercy for settlements near watercourses

Watercourses will be evacuated. Rivers will return to their natural forms. The prime minister has assigned the State Waterworks Authority [DSİ] and the İstanbul Waterworks Authority [İSKİ] the duty to do just that. We will cancel certificates of proprietorship if necessary,” stated the minister in an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman.

Eroğlu's remarks came as part of planned measures to prevent the public against natural disasters. Flash floods triggered by torrential downpour turned İstanbul streets into rapid flowing rivers, resulting in the deaths of more than 30 people last week. Houses built near watercourses were blamed for the overflow of rivers. The minister underlined that the government would show no mercy when demolishing buildings around watercourses. “The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, İSKİ and DSİ will determine unlicensed buildings. They will be demolished. Those with proprietorship certificates will also be demolished if they are situated near watercourses. We have prepared a circular for the rehabilitation of rivers. We will not face similar disasters if we comply with this circular,” Eroğlu said.

Eroğlu pointed to the Republican People's Party (CHP) as responsible for last Wednesday's disaster. “I wanted to demolish shanty houses near rivers when I was the general manager of İSKİ. The CHP opposed the planned demolitions. They applied to administrative courts and hindered the demolitions. Now they are asking why we did not demolish those buildings. We could have overcome the problem if we had cooperated,” he noted.

The impending disaster in İstanbul was pointed out in a report prepared by experts from the DSİ, İSKİ and the İstanbul Municipality's technical affairs department in 1997. The report drawn up by experts stated at the time that 58 of İstanbul's 174 streams and rivers had the potential to cause flooding, listing these rivers as highly dangerous and demanding immediate measures against the risk of overflowing and flooding. However, the warning remained no more than words on paper despite a notice sent from Eroğlu when he served as İSKİ general manager to the city's municipal administrations.

The İSKİ statement demanded that all buildings within 25 meters of at-risk rivers' banks on both sides be evacuated by April 1997. The note also stated that all buildings erected within 100 meters of the riverbanks should be demolished as quickly as possible.

However, despite the early warning, none of the buildings and settlement zones near the potentially dangerous rivers were evacuated 12 years after Eroğlu's notice. The result was the deadly flood disaster the city had to endure on Wednesday.

Flood risk still persists in northwestern Turkey

The State Meteorology Bureau has announced that more torrential rains are expected in several northwestern provinces, which were hit by flash floods triggered by heavy rains that resulted in dozens of deaths last week.

Cities in northeast Turkey are also expected to be negatively affected by the downpour as of today.

According to a statement by the bureau, the rain will continue in the next few days in the İstanbul, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Yalova, Bursa, Bilecik, Balıkesir, Trabzon and Rize provinces. Meteorologists warned residents of these provinces to be on alert against the risk of any flooding, lightning strikes and landslides that could be triggered by torrential rains. Temperatures in the northern and eastern provinces are expected to drop by 4 to 6 degrees.

Almost the whole of Turkey was hit by heavy rains over the weekend. Among the provinces most adversely affected was northwestern Tekirdağ. Downpours in the province led to new flash floods, trapping hundreds of workers at some tile and brick factories on Saturday. Floods forced the evacuation of about 300 workers at the factories. The Anatolia news agency reported that at least five workers were missing. Tekirdağ Governor Zübeyir Kemelek, however, denied the reports.

The Turkish military also assisted rescue efforts with tanks. In Tekirdağ's Keşan district, around 50 houses were inundated by the downpour.

Torrential rains also triggered floods elsewhere in the region on Saturday and İstanbul's Sarıyer and Kilyos suburbs, causing at least one bridge to collapse near the town of Keşan on the Greek border and inundating dozens of homes in İstanbul. Floods were also reported in the western provinces of Çanakkale, Balıkesir, Aydın, İzmir, Antalya and Bursa.

Hüseyin Uzunlar, the mayor of Tekirdağ's Kumbağ district, stated that around 4,000 buildings were inundated since last Wednesday. “We did not suffer from any loss of life, but our financial loss is much too high. Our municipality has distributed aid packages to flood-stricken people, but the Turkish Red Crescent has not arrived in our district yet. Our people are in a difficult condition as a result of the floods. The infrastructure of our district has collapsed. We expect the state to heal our wounds,” he said.

Death toll increases

The dead bodies of seven missing people, including four children, were found by search-and-rescue teams on Saturday, increasing the number of flood victims to 39. They were reported missing after the disastrous floods hit İstanbul on Sept. 9. Efforts are still under way to find two other missing people.

Officials said northwestern Turkey averted a probable disaster on Saturday thanks to measures taken against flooding. Dozens of houses in Tekirdağ and İstanbul were evacuated, which were eventually inundated after heavy downpour swept through the area.

The residents of some buildings were given phone calls by search-and-rescue teams and were ordered to climb to higher floors of their buildings as their apartments became inundated. They were later saved and moved to safe areas by the teams.

Sarıyer Mayor Hüseyin Coşkun said his district had averted a possible disaster thanks to measures taken beforehand. “We did not witness very big losses during the raining and floods. We are working to evacuate inundated business places. Thank God we escaped this lightly,” he noted.

In various İstanbul districts, however, residents refused to evacuate their houses as they had no other place to take shelter in. “They tell us to leave our houses, but don't provide an alternative. Where are we to go other than our houses?” asked Yavuz Arslan, a Beykoz resident.

CHP accuses prime minister of disaster

Two CHP deputies, Mustafa Özyürek and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, called a press conference yesterday during which they accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) of being responsible for the flood disaster in İstanbul.

"İstanbul witnessed a very big disaster knowingly. Buildings constructed in riverbeds caused this disaster. If such construction continues, then similar disasters will be inevitable," Özyürek noted. The CHP deputy said Erdoğan and his men have been governing İstanbul for the last 16 years, and complained that no measures have been taken against natural disasters. Özyürek also said his party would submit a motion to Parliament today to discuss the flood disaster.

Kılıçdaroğlu called on flood victims to seek legal redress at the European Court of Human Rights, adding his party would support them legally.