Earthquake-affected media workers in Osmaniye 'most saddened by lack of support'

A thousand and 10 people lost their lives in Osmaniye in the earthquakes on February 6 according to official figures. After the earthquake, Governor Dr. Erdinç Yılmaz announced that 10,000 buildings would be demolished.

Osmaniye, which is the hometown of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli and has been under the administration of MHP Mayor Kadir Kara for three terms, did not experience significant negatives in its districts. However, the building housing 4 local radio stations and 3 newspaper offices in the city center collapsed, and 3 newspaper offices became unusable due to damage.

The building that I have been renting for 22 years also collapsed. The entire files and archives of Yeni Bakış, which I launched in 1988, were buried under the rubble. As someone who has been involved in various roles in the media for 49 years and has authored six books, all my accumulations were lost in the rubble during the earthquake. I couldn't save a single pen.

I couldn't get back the annual rent that I paid in advance 15 days before the earthquake. I received no attention or support from the Governorship, the AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority), or the municipality in any way, and I wasn't even called by phone. Currently, I am struggling to provide public service with my own resources in a 10-square-meter office, with a computer that I couldn't even pay the debt for.

Not only me, but local radio and newspaper workers whose broadcasts were cut off still haven't been able to recover. The media workers whose buildings were destroyed, damaged, and equipment buried under the rubble stated that, even after 11 months, they haven't received the necessary attention and support from the authorities, feeling abandoned.

Media workers emphasize that they perform a service for the public to receive news, and they express that they are experiencing a second earthquake due to the authorities being insensitive, indifferent, and not providing support.

The common opinion among the media workers affected by the earthquake in Osmaniye is this: 'We haven't seen any spiritual sensitivity, not even a simple 'Get well soon!' from the relevant institutions, especially the Governorate and the municipality!"

Some of them conveyed the following:

"Indifference of the authorities saddened us even more"

Radio Meşale Board Chairperson Ahmet Yılmaz: Our radio started broadcasting in 1995, and in 2019, it changed its name. We were operating three separate radio broadcasts in a 7-story building. On the first day of the earthquake, our building sustained damage, and we couldn't save our equipment from our office except for computers and mixers. Our broadcast was interrupted, and since our infrastructure is still not in place, we cannot broadcast in any way.

We had two salaried employees and around 30 volunteer programmers. We can't pay the company's tax debts, and we had to stop working with our salaried staff. If support is not provided, we won't be able to resume broadcasting at the end of the one-year period. So far, neither the Governorship nor AFAD nor municipal officials have inquired about our situation. It saddens us that, while providing public service for 30 years, we are being treated with indifference.

What hurts us the most is that our situation has not been inquired about. Was it too difficult for AFAD to provide our equipment? We did not expect such ingratitude for the services we have been providing to the public in Osmaniye for years. The indifference of the authorities after the earthquake has saddened us even more.

“Our equipment was stolen”

Radio Gönül Board Chairman Muhammed Kırlar: We have been broadcasting since 1996. Our building was damaged in the earthquakes on February 6, and 80% of our equipment was under the rubble. We managed to salvage the remaining 20% and moved them to an undamaged office. A week later, thieves stole the equipment from this office. After a month of the earthquake, I decided to use a room in my house as a broadcasting studio and started music broadcasts from there.

Before the earthquake, we were serving with 2 salaried and 4 freelance program producers. We did not receive any support from the public institutions after the earthquake. They came, wrote notes, recorded, but we haven't seen any results so far.

Our debts to the Tax Office, Social Security Institution (SGK), and Social Security Institution for Artisans and Self-Employed (Bağ-Kur) have accumulated, and we are trying to make payments. The Governorship, AFAD, or municipal officials have not called to inquire about our situation. With my own resources, I built a 120 m² space, completed the infrastructure, and even though we are not producing programs, we have recently started broadcasting from our new location.

“Nobody even called to say ‘Get well soon’”

Hasret Newspaper News Director Hasan Kılıç: I served as the Editorial Director at Hasret newspaper in Osmaniye for 12 years. After retiring, I continued to work as the news director. I have been working as a correspondent for various national newspapers, including Anadolu Agency, for 49 years.

My personal office in Yeni Çarşı was damaged on the first day of the earthquake, and I couldn't salvage my computer and other equipment. Damage assessment was conducted, but I have not received any results to date. Neither the Governor, the mayor, AFAD officials, nor any public authority has even called me to say, "Get well soon."

As someone who has been serving as a media professional in Osmaniye for 49 years, experiencing such ingratitude deeply wounds me.

“Local media is the living memory of a city”

Mustafa Düzenli, owner and Editor-in-Chief of Yeni Adımlar newspaper: Our building suffered severe damage on the first day of the earthquake. All of the equipment in my spacious office, the news center, and the social media journalism office were damaged. I must say that I couldn't salvage even a 'piece of junk'. I incurred approximately 600,000 lira in damages. The governor and the mayor called to express their 'get well soon' wishes, but I haven't seen any results in resolving our issue.

I paid a rent of 16,000 lira to the business owner a month ago, which I couldn't retrieve. After the earthquake, we received one laptop from the Turkish Journalists' Association (TGC).

Since 2013, we have been publishing weekly, faced multiple lawsuits, and had losses. After the earthquake, our newspaper closed down, and now, I work as an employee in a local newspaper after being the owner. I believe that local media lacks the necessary competence. Local media is the living memory of a city, and if you lose local media, you lose your own memory.

Local governments don't provide the necessary support to weekly newspapers. Local media is under serious pressure; we face incidents like threats and office raids from the opposing party. It is very challenging for opposition media to survive in Osmaniye without support because journalists can't fulfill their duties properly in reporting on human rights issues.

(MB/HA/PE)