Turkey earthquake: Survivors living in fear on streets

Songul Yucesoy cautiously washes her dishes, soaping the plates and cutlery earlier rinsing disconnected the bubbles and laying them retired to dry. An unremarkable scene, but she's outdoors, sitting successful the shadiness of her ruined house.

It tilts astatine an alarming angle, the model frames are hanging retired and there's a ample chunk of the rusty robust extortion present resting successful the garden.

A period aft the devastating earthquakes successful Turkey and Syria, those who survived look an uncertain future. One of their astir superior problems is uncovering determination harmless to live. At slightest 1.5 cardinal radical are present homeless, and it's unclear however agelong it volition instrumentality to find them due shelter.

The Turkish catastrophe bureau Afad, meanwhile, says astir 2 cardinal radical person present near the quake zone. Some are surviving with friends oregon loved ones elsewhere successful the country. Flights and trains retired of the portion are escaped to those who privation to leave. 

But successful the municipality of Samandag, adjacent the Mediterranean coast, Songul is wide that she and her household aren't going anywhere. "This is precise important for us. Whatever happens adjacent - adjacent if the location falls down - we volition enactment here. This is our home, our nest. Everything we person is here. We are not going to leave."

Precious pieces of furnishings person been cautiously pulled from the location and acceptable up outside. On apical of a polished woody broadside array is simply a vacation souvenir, a representation made of shells from the Turkish edifice of Kusadasi. There's a vessel of fruit, with achromatic mould creeping crossed a ample orange. Things that look mean indoors consciousness unusual and retired of spot erstwhile they're sitting successful the street.

Right now, the full household is surviving successful 3 tents conscionable a fewer steps distant from their damaged home. They slumber and devour there, sharing nutrient cooked connected a tiny camping stove. There's nary due toilet, though they've recovered 1 from the bath and are trying to plumb it successful in a makeshift woody shed. They've adjacent created a tiny ablution area. But it's each precise basic, and the deficiency of abstraction and privateness is obvious. These tents are cramped and overcrowded.

It's been an agonising period for Songul. Seventeen of their relatives were killed successful the quake. Her sister Tulay is officially missing. "We don't cognize if she is inactive nether the rubble," she tells me. "We don't cognize whether her assemblage was taken retired yet oregon not. We're waiting. We can't commencement mourning. We can't adjacent find our mislaid one."

Songul's brother-in-law Husemettin and 11-year-old nephew Lozan died erstwhile their flat gathering successful Iskenderun collapsed astir them arsenic they slept. We visited what was near of their home, a sprawling heap of twisted debris. Neighbours told america 3 blocks of flats had fallen.

"We brought Lozan's assemblage here," Songul says quietly. "We took him from the morgue and buried him adjacent to america successful Samandag. Husemettin was buried successful the cemetery of the anonymous, we recovered his sanction there."

A representation of the household smiles retired of Tulay's still-active Facebook profile, their arms astir each other, faces close. Lozan holds a reddish balloon tightly.

The homelessness situation created by the quake is truthful acute due to the fact that of the existent shortage of harmless spaces that are near standing. More than 160,000 buildings collapsed oregon were severely damaged. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates astatine slightest 1.5 cardinal radical are inactive wrong the quake zone, but with obscurity to live. It's hard to cognize the existent figure, and it could beryllium acold higher.

Study cabins are arriving, but excessively slowly. Tents person appeared everywhere, from sprawling caller encampments to idiosyncratic ones dotted amidst the rubble. There inactive aren't enough. News that the Turkish Red Crescent had sold immoderate of its banal of taxpayer-funded tents to a foundation radical - albeit astatine outgo terms - led to vexation and anger.

In immoderate cities, radical are inactive surviving wrong nationalist buildings.

In Adana, I met families sleeping connected blankets and mattresses dispersed crossed a volleyball court. In the larboard metropolis of Iskenderun they person made their location connected 2 trains parked astatine the railway station. Seats person go beds, luggage racks are filled with idiosyncratic possessions and the unit determination effort hard to support things cleanable and tidy. Tears capable the eyes of 1 young miss arsenic she hugs a pillow alternatively of a teddy bear. This isn't home.

Songul's children are struggling, too. Toys and games are stuck wrong unsafe houses, and there's nary school. "They're bored, there's thing to support them busy. They conscionable beryllium around. They play with their phones, past spell to furniture aboriginal erstwhile they tally retired of charge."

When nighttime falls, things are adjacent harder. There's nary energy successful Samandag now. Songul has draped colourful star lights crossed their achromatic tent, conscionable supra the bold UNHCR logo. Homeless successful their ain country, they're not refugees, but they've inactive mislaid everything.

"I enactment the lamps present to beryllium seen," Songul explains. "We're frightened erstwhile it gets dark. Having nary powerfulness is simply a large problem. The fearfulness is excessively big, and each nighttime agelong we consciousness the aftershocks, truthful it's hard to sleep." Starting to cry, she wipes distant the tears with her hand.

"We are escaped people, we are utilized to freedom, independence, everyone surviving successful their ain houses," adds her husband, Savas. "But present we are 3 families, eating successful 1 tent, surviving and sitting successful 1 azygous tent."

"This is each caller to us, we don't cognize what the aboriginal holds. And there's ever the fear. Our houses person collapsed, what volition hap next? We conscionable don't know."