But for the Karadeniz household, it will be a painful time as newly orphaned children struggle to deal with the loss of their mother in the flash floods in İstanbul last week. Naciye Karadeniz was one of seven women employed at a textile firm who drowned in a work van in İstanbul's Halkalı district because the vehicle did not comply with safety standards. It was designed to carry freight, not people and lacked the door and window required by regulations in the rear where the women were seated. There was no way for the women to escape when the van was engulfed by water. It was another rainy day when Today's Zaman spoke with Karadeniz's children following the tragic incident. Her 15-year-old daughter, Berna, says that she fears thunder as many children do, and that she used to rush to her mother's side when the weather turned stormy. She can no longer do that now, but says that she does not fear storms or even rain. “I'm not afraid of floods; the most they can do is bring me to my mother's side,” she says. “Instead of kissing my mother's hand this eid [a Turkish tradition], I'll be kissing her grave.”
The recovery effort to address the widespread property damage from last week's flash floods has begun. Inundated homes and muddy streets are being cleaned, while damaged roadways are being repaired. But the human toll taken by the tragedy will prove much more difficult to heal. Scores died in the flooding, and their relatives are now left to grieve. Naciye Karadeniz was a mother of five girls. The two eldest, Hülya (26) and Derya (21), are both married and have families of their own. But Şeyda, Berna and Tülay are now faced with the emptiness of a home without their mother's presence.
“I'll look after my sisters, I can cook for them, but I can't provide my mother's love for them,” frets 17-year-old Şeyda, who now has to bear a great deal of responsibility in the household. She says she still hasn't worked up the courage to go to visit her mother's grave, saying: “I can't believe my mother is dead; it's as if in a little while she'll walk through the door, talking and laughing.” Şeyda must now care for her younger two sisters and her grandmother, who is ill. She says that in the evenings she and her sisters crawl into their mother's bed and cry together. “I can bear the pain, but my sisters are so small, how are they going to overcome this?” she wonders.
‘Firm owner should be jailed for life’
Hülya Yarar, one of Karadeniz's two eldest daughters, blames the incident on the owner of the Pameks textile firm where her mother worked for allowing the van to be used to take employees to and from work for years. The driver of the van, Mehmet O., and firm owner Cevdet K. were both reportedly taken to court for legal proceedings against them in connection with the deaths following the floods. Yarar says that Cevdet K.'s sister paid her a visit to express her condolences, saying, “We share your pain.” Yarar refuses to accept the apology, saying that nothing can bring her mother back. Her sister Derya Tutan says that Cevdet K. should be jailed for life for his liability in her mother's death. “Even if he was given a life sentence his relatives wouldn't feel the same pain we do over our mother's death. At the very least they could go and visit him in jail when they wanted to. But who am I going to hug this Eid, whose hand am I going to kiss?” she asks.
