Turkey appeal No. 01.57/2001 programme update No. 6

This Programme Update is intended for reporting on Annual Appeals.
Appeal Target: CHF 21,559,000
Period covered: 1 November - 31 December; last Programme
Update (no. 5) issued 21 December 2001

"At a Glance"

Appeal coverage: 100.8%

Outstanding needs: None

Operational Developments:

During this reporting period the humanitarian situation in Turkey has been affected by continuing tremors/ earthquakes, cold weather conditions, heavy rainfalls and snowfalls, economical/social developments and new changes in the Turkish Civil Code.

Tremors/Earthquakes

A series of 93 tremors, measuring 3.0 to 4.5 on the Richter scale, were recorded during this reporting period. The Van and Mersin Provinces were shaken respectively on November 9 and on November 13, Pasinler township of eastern Erzurum province on the eastern Anatolian fault line on December 1, and a further three separate earthquakes occurred one after another in the Van province on December 2 and 4 measuring 4.0 to 4.5 on the Richter scale. No casualties were reported in any of the above mentioned earthquakes; however some people panicked and jumped out of balconies, wounding themselves.

Heavy rainfalls

The country was affected by cold weather while the heavy rainfalls caused devastating floods and landslides in some regions during this reporting period. In mid November, 2001, a total of six persons died in a landslide in the Rize Province (Black Sea Region) caused by torrential rains. Flooding provoked by torrential rains inundated houses, collapsed buildings and downed power and telephone lines in southern Turkey. Schools were closed. A collapsed bridge blocked the traffic in and out of Mersin, and left hundreds of vehicles waiting on the road that connects Mersin with Antalya. Three villages with more than 450 people in Mersin province were evacuated due to flood, and the villagers were settled in a sports hall. A total of 119 thousand square meters agricultural land was damaged due to heavy rainfall and floods in southern province of Mersin. Some 7,000 families who earn their living from farming suffered losses in the floods. The flooding caused a blackout in at least four coastal towns on the Mediterranean. Waters swept away roads, bridges and highways and even carried some cars into the sea. Heavy rainfalls also affected Adana province. While several buildings were flooded, the electricity was cut off to most of the city and water channels were over flown. Storm and precipitation have badly affected Istanbul too. Winds of up to 70-80 kilometres per hour and continuous rain caused heavy damage. Several walls collapsed onto cars and trees were uprooted.

Heavy Snowfalls

Sudden and early snowfalls paralysed the country during the months of November and December. In the second half of November 2001 the eastern Black Sea region faced heavy snowfalls that began after heavy rainfalls. A number of village roads were closed and there was no electricity even in major cities such as Rize and Trabzon. In many areas of Turkey’s north west, including the city of Istanbul, schools were closed due to the bad weather conditions in December. Many townships and villages could not be given electricity as storms have damaged the energy lines. Snow reached 1 meter in some places in the region.

In the western province of Edirne, more than 300 village roads was blocked off due to snow and a number of villages was without electricity. Meanwhile, the sea traffic of the straits has been badly effected by the heavy snows and strong winds and ferries to nearby islands were cancelled. Road traffic has also been hard hit due to snow and ice.

The heavy snowfall also paralysed the life in the Eastern Anatolia Region. Approximately 2000 village roads was closed to the traffic in Erzurum, Agri, Mus, Bingol, Van, Bitlis and Hakkari provinces. Snow reached 40 centimetres in some places in the region and Turkish Airlines’ flights to and from the region were cancelled. Heavy snowfall also damaged energy and communication lines in the region.

Economical/Social Developments

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) announced the UNDP 2001 Human Development Report for Turkey prepared by Turkish experts and by support of the UNDP Turkey Representatives. The report stated that economical criteria were not the biggest obstacle in front of Turkey’s EU membership but that Turkey has to work hard to make improvements in its social and political life. Eradication of poverty has an important place in Turkey’s development program. The report pointed out that increasing income played an important role in the fight against poverty in Turkey but unbalanced education widened the gap between social classes.

In spite of the economic crises that Turkey is suffering from, the country continues to develop its economical potential and has been included in the annual report of ILOs list of Developed Countries ( in November). Further, Turkey has been labelled as a ‘developing country’ by other institutions including UNCTAD and UNDP. Meanwhile, tax debts and tax penalties of people who lost 10% or more of their assets during the 1999 earthquakes could be erased under a new bill. So far the bill on the issue passed at the Parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission.

In November the Parliament General Council passed the new Civil Code which introduce important changes in family law. Among them is the equality between the husband and wife in a marriage. The new code also raised the legal age for marriage to 18 from the current 17 for men and 15 for women.

National Security Council (NSC) informed members on expectations and targets for the year 2002. During the last meeting of the year the NSC underlined importance of continuation of structural arrangements aiming at providing a more sound, dynamic and reliable structure in Turkish economy, preventing corruption, increasing welfare of the community, removing unfair distribution of income, decreasing differences among regions, and struggling against poverty.

Disaster Response

The TRCS has provided necessary response to the weather related disaster (floods, landslides and snow) with its own resources, facilities and personnel in an efficient way.

The national and international response activities of the TRCS are as follows:

• the TRCS response to local disasters: Turkey was hit by five flash flood disasters during this period. Over 32,000 families were affected. The TRCS was the only agency, besides the local authorities and the affected communities themselves that assisted the victims with aid amounting to 114,000 USD. The quality of response and service has been appreciated. The response activities were carried out in co-ordination and co-operation with TRCS branches who actively participated the response operation efforts. Particularly in Mersin and Tarsus, the local disaster response plan was implemented effectively. During this reporting period (as in all previous Ramadans) the TRCS also provided aid to the needy families. Food parcels and meals were distributed to the most vulnerable families throughout Turkey.
• TRCS response to International appeals: the TRCS responded to the Afghan crisis by providing assistance through the Pakistan Red Crescent and by directly delivering assistance to Afghan refugee camps in the north bordering Iran. In addition, the TRCS provided assistance to several countries affected by natural disasters:

Disaster Preparedness

The disaster preparedness activities carried out by the Federation and PNS’s in support of the TRCS during this reporting period are as follows:

• A journalist contracted to write a chapter on "Mitigating Earthquake Risk in Urban Cities" - for the World Disasters Report 2002- visited Turkey between November 28 and December 2, 2001. Istanbul will be covered in this chapter as one of the metropolitan cities that is at such risk. The DPR delegate, the information officer, and the Federation field office facilitated the visit by arranging meetings with the relevant local authorities, academic institutions, public and private agencies and several visits to the recent disaster sites.
• The Federation’s DPR delegate attended the preparatory meeting for the planned "Seismic Safe Building" seminar to be organised by the Federation and the American Red Cross, together with the TRCS. The seminar will be held in Istanbul during the first half of 2002.
• The DPR delegate attended the global DP workshop organised by the Secretariat and held in Lausanne 3 to 8 December
• The American Red Cross reproduced 6,500 CDs of the «5 minutes for life » production in order to be distributed in the schools in Istanbul.
• The American Red Cross developed proposals for a Community Based Disaster Preparedness Program (CBDP) for two TRCS branches (Istanbul and Izmir).
• The British Red Cross completed the refurbishment work of the Administration building at the Erzurum regional warehouse, including the installation of the generator.
• The process of automation of the warehouse and branch operations has begun with the purchase of computer equipment. The first phase of training to support general computer skills’ development, is scheduled to begin in January 2002. The next phase of hardware and software procurement and training will be implemented once a final decisions on warehouse management systems have been made by the TRCS.
• The Federation in co-ordination with the PNSs and together with the training department of the TRCS have organised different training programs to build the human resource capacity of the TRCS. Following are some of the training activities:

  - Training of Trainers /Instructors: the Course for 16 selected staff members of the TRCS, held 5 -14 November, was jointly sponsored by the Federation and the American Red Cross.

  - Project Planning Workshop: The Federation together with the British Red Cross sponsored a Project Planning Workshop for 24 TRCS staff from the branches located in eastern part of the country.

  - Tentative Field Hospital Training: The German Red Cross together with the TRCS organised and conducted a Tentative Field Hospital Training - setting up and managing a tent hospital - for 30 TRCS staff between 4-10 November at the Yenikoy Hospital in Izmit. Utilisation of the Yenikoy hospital in emergencies was also discussed. The exercises carried out during the training showed that the hospital can be fully operational as a referral hospital in a disaster situation within 24 hours.

The TRCS relocated 2,973 tents, 20,635 blankets, 16 mobile kitchens and 19 S-3 type kitchens to Elazig and Erzurum Regional Warehouses and to Adana Transit Warehouse from Etimesgut Central Warehouse as a measure to increase its disaster preparedness. Construction: The progress of the remaining 3 hospitals, 3 schools and 1 rehabilitation centre of the Federation’s construction programme was as follows:

• The construction of the Sakarya State hospital was completed by end of November and the construction, mechanical and electrical systems have been inspected by a control group from the Ministry of Health.
• Although the construction of Duzce State Hospital was scheduled to be finished in February 2002, the completion is delayed and will probably be finished by April. The reason for the delay is due to the special request of the Head Doctor for several architectural changes as well as some mechanical and electrical changes. According to the new work schedule the contractor has been given 1.5 month time of extension.
• The tender process of Korfez State Hospital in Izmit has been finalised. The contract was signed on 25 December 2001.
• The Cubuklu Primary School construction has been completed. However, some crucial extra works, including a septic tank, requested by the Directorate, have been endorsed.
• The largest school project, Inkilap Primary School in Izmit, is in full progress. The project is scheduled to be completed during January 2002.
• The completion of the construction of Samat Primary School has been delayed for one month due to bad weather conditions but will hopefully be completed during January 2002.
• The contract for consultancy service of Yalova Health Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre was signed between the consultant company and Social Insurance Institute (SSK) of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security on 25 December 2001.

In the meantime, the TRCS, the Federation, the German Red Cross delegation and the Italian Red Cross held a meeting, 30 November, in regards to the construction projects of the Branch buildings of Golcuk and Duzce. Construction of Golcuk Branch building, scheduled to be starting in February, after signing the contract with the assigned company, will be financed by German Red Cross. The Construction of Duzce Branch will be a joint construction programme of the Federation and German Red Cross, where the German Red Cross will finance the main building and an attached hall to be used as a community hall within the Community Centre Program, will be financed by the Federation.

Water-sanitation

The Federation’s Wat/San programme, which covers 2 projects and one project proposal, has been in full progress. The Kandira Cathodic Protection Project, which is a complementary work of the Kandira Pipeline project, was completed on 20 November. The aim of this project is to extend the life of the entire steel pipe (12,559 m) by using an electrochemical system (the Galvanic Cathodic Protection method) which is preventing the chemical corrosion and oxidation. After the completion of the project the maintenance/service training was given to the Kandira Hira-Group Potable Water Union workers, by the contractors.

During the month of November, the wat/san team worked closely with Kocaeli Governorship and Koy Hizmetleri (Rural Works) in order to obtain satisfactorily prepared calculations, designs, drawings and specifications for the Avluburun Water Treatment Project. Meanwhile, the technical explanation report and treatment process have also been studied by the Wat/San team. Drawings were provided by the Rural Works on 14 December for evaluation by the Wat/San team. After completion of the contract documents in January 2002; pre-qualification process can be initiated and the tendering can proceed.

In the meantime the municipality of Kaynasli (Duzce) requested Federation assistance to support two main water projects: the Kaynasli Sewerage Application Project and the Kaynasli Package Water Purification Instalment Projects.

An official evaluation stated that 76,6 % of the infrastructure of the city was badly damaged or destroyed during the November 1999 earthquake. A draft of the Sewerage Application Project and of the Package Water Purification Instalment Project proposals has been sent to the Swiss Red Cross. As a first estimate, the total cost of the two projects should be in the range of 200,000 USD.

Water Purification Units: the Federation head of delegation made an assessment together with the German Red Cross on some of the equipment at the TRCS’s warehouse in Ankara. The German Red Cross intended to support the TRCS for the rehabilitation of the equipment and training sessions in regard to equipment earlier provided by German Red Cross. The Federation, on the other hand, will look into possibilities to rehabilitate, where necessary, and provide training on other water purification units stored at TRCS Ankara Warehouse.

Humanitarian Values

Nothing to report.

Health and Care

Community Centres Program

Volunteers and staff of the Pusula PSP Centre in Duzce organised the commemoration activities for the 12 November 1999 earthquake while also giving tribute to the hard work of recovering and adjusting to the post-earthquake challenges. At a commemoration ceremony held by the TRCS Duzce Branch and Pusula PSP centre on 12 November 2001, victims were remembered in a series of activities that included plays, poetry and music. Coinciding with TRCS’s week, the TRCS Duzce branch sponsored a writing contest for local students in which winners were awarded at the ceremony. Students winning prizes wrote compositions and poems about the help provided by the TRCS in their communities following the earthquake.

Following the completion of the Kaynasli Community Centre construction, the procurement of equipment is in progress and should be finalised by the end of January or early February. The opening of the centre will take place in February. Provision of electricity, central heating and sewage system, to be provided by the municipality of Kaynasli has delayed the project somewhat.

Activities of the PSP Centres, carried out by the contribution of the volunteer include:

Amindos PSP Center (Avcilar):

• arranging psychology discussion groups on various topics.
• organising peer support group.
• trekking in the surrounding nature of Istanbul.
• establishing a chess club for youngsters.

Hare PSP Center (Izmit):

• arranging nature walks with the volunteers and individuals from the community
• carrying out the painting group for children and theatre group activities.
• carrying out physical exercises activity for women.

Pusula PSP Centre (Duzce):

• organising visits to the prefabricated settlement areas.
• arranging the individual support services in the Dialyses Centre of Duzce State Hospital.
• organising individual counselling sessions in Kaynasli Health Unit.
• carrying out the poetry, theatre, music, modern dance activities.
• carrying out the activities for play and discussion groups of child hawkers.
• arranging a seminar on disaster preparedness organised by United Methodist Church Organisation (UMCOR).

Some statistics:

Training:

Follow-up module of "Community Mental Health Promotion Training" has been held in Hare PSP Centre in Izmit for volunteers. This training was based on identifying the needs of the community and producing social activities according to those needs together with the members of the community.

Volunteer trainers of "Community Mental Health Promotion Training" who were trained by the senior trainers of Appartenances (the Swiss NGO providing specific volunteers training) trained 20 participants in each PSP Centre to become a volunteer. The aim of the training is to train the new volunteers for recognising the needs within the community and developing the social activities according to those needs.

Although the Kaynasli Community Centre has not been inaugurated officially, the staff started to work on setting up the volunteer groups. Following the selection of a new volunteer group of 20 persons, the first module of the 18 days basic training has been held in Kaynasli in early December.

Psychological First Aid Training of Trainers:

During 4 - 14 December, a professor at the South Dakota University Disaster Mental Health Institute and a representative of the International Federation’s Reference Centre, visited the program to make a need assessment/program development in the area Psychological First Aid Training of Trainers Program (PFA ToT). The objectives of the assessment/program development visit were the improvement of the internal marketing of the concept of Psychological First Aid, being a catalyst for more systematic involvement and motivation of local resources, identifying the specific needs related with Psychological First Aid program of TRCS and initiating the adaptation process of the PFA ToT content to Turkish culture, which will also correspond with the identified needs.

FA Programs/FA Trainings: The Spanish Red Cross has sponsored the FA Instructors training program, carried out during this period, and a total of 30 people were trained and certified.

Basic/Community FA programs are being sponsored by the Italian Red Cross. The implementation of the program was however limited due to Ramadan and the unusual winter weather conditions in the regions of Duzce, Eskisehir, and Van. However, Van and Eskisehir branches in co-operation with Italian Red Cross organised 3 FA trainings with 44 participants. In the meantime Italian Red Cross’s voluntary service development, monitoring and evaluation activities were in full progress.

The French Red Cross is assisting the TRCS in co-ordinating similar training programs in the Istanbul area. During this period the TRCS, with support from the French Red Cross, organised 16 training programs for 202 participants of whom 177 were certified. In the meantime a FA master trainer of French Red Cross visited Turkey between 20 and 28 of November, in order to evaluate and discuss the continuity of the programme. The TRCS has requested the continuous co-operation with the FRC during 2002.

Mobile Blood Collection Units

The German Red Cross together with the Federation and the Blood Transfusion Department of TRCS, started a tendering process for the procurement of mobile blood collection vehicles.

Institutional and Resource Development

Branch Development

The German Red Cross’s Psycho-Social Support (PSS) Program at Yeniköy was closed by the end of December. However, the German Red Cross has discussed with the TRCS to support Golcuk Branch on their own PSS activities under the framework of the German Red Cross’s "Branch Development" project. The German Red Cross’s plan of action for four TRCS branches (Izmit, Golcuk, Duzce and Pendik) has been elaborated. A 6 month pilot program has been presented to TRCS HQs. The main content of the plan is capacity building for core activities and includes resource developments.

The American Red Cross briefed the TRCS on the draft proposals for a "Branch Development" program in Istanbul and Izmir.

An American Red Cross OD delegate arrived in Turkey with a one year mission assignment. A Concept Paper for Federation and American Red Cross and other PNSs for the co-ordination of an OD strategy is being discussed.

Regional Co-operation

Nothing to report

Co-ordination and Management

Two PNS co-ordination meetings were held by the Federation delegation. The main issue raised during these meetings was the importance of developing a TRCS branch development and support strategy. The American Red Cross has been negotiating with TUBITAK (Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey) in order to determine possible collaboration. American Red Cross also completed Environmental and Organisation Assessment on TRCS.

For further details please contact: Penny Elghday; Phone: 41 22 730 4319; Fax: 41 22 733 03 95; e-mail: elghady@ifrc.org

All International Federation Operations seek to adhere to the Code of Conduct and are committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (SPHERE Project) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.

For further information concerning Federation operations in this or other countries, please access the Federation web site at http://www.ifrc.org.

John Horekens
Head
Relationship Management Department

Lynette Lowndes
Head
Europe Department