HÜDA PAR Chairman Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu has visited Turkey’s Black Sea Region, where floods caused by torrential rains killed at least 80 people last week.

Yapıcıoğlu first visited the flood-hit areas in the Bozkurt district of Kastamonu province, where he met with people affected by the disaster and conveyed get well soon wishes to them.

Yapıcıoğlu visited the Red Crescent with the search and rescue teams that carry out the debris removal and infrastructure works, got information about their work, and wished them success.

Yapıcıoğlu visited the AFAD Coordination Center located in Bozkurt District Governor's Office and met with Abdulkadir Tezcan, Head of the Coordination Center.

Yapıcıoğlu also visited Bozkurt Municipality, which was damaged in the flood, and met with Mayor Muammer Yanık. In the meeting, Yanık gave information to Yapıcıoğlu about the loss of life due to the flood, the destruction caused by the flood, damage assessment and debris removal work, the clean water network that was badly damaged, and infrastructure works.

Yapıcıoğlu offered his condolences to Mayor Yanık, who also lost his relatives in the disaster. After his contacts in Bozkurt, Yapıcıoğlu went to Sinop's Ayancık district, which was hit by the flood.

Making statements after his talks, Yapıcıoğlu wished Allah's mercy on those who lost their lives in the flood, condolences to their relatives, and a speedy recovery to the injured.

Stating that they visited the site and saw how big the disaster was, Yapıcıoğlu wished that “May Allah never experience similar disasters again and protect us from the worst.”

Yapıcıoğlu said: “But we should not forget that we thought that we could see nature, which is the property of Allah, as our own property and consume it unlimitedly. We polluted the air, water, and soil, and as a result, we became more likely to experience similar disasters. We hope that it will not happen again.  However, we should constantly take into account that there may be more heavy rains due to the destruction we have made in nature with our own hands, and we should take our measures accordingly.”

“The apartment buildings should not be built on the stream bed”

Emphasizing that the construction in the stream beds causes very serious damage, Yapıcıoğlu said, “Yes, we hope that it will not happen again, but measures should be taken as if it will happen again and again. Unfortunately, we saw the constructions in the stream beds in this flood disaster, as in the others. Not only the residences but also the district governor's office and the municipality building were flooded, there is a school that was completely destroyed, the ground floor of the school was completely flooded.  This shows us that it takes firm determination to escape from stream beds.  Whatever needs to be done should be done in order not to settle in the stream beds. In fact, not only the buildings destroyed due to the flood disaster but also the buildings that are likely to collapse in a similar disaster should be demolished today so that similar pains do not occur again.”

Yapıcıoğlu said: “The dimensions of the disaster are very large, perhaps no one expected a disaster of this magnitude. As the trees were uprooted and attached to bridges, the water changed direction, the stream bed overflowed and the whole city was flooded.”

“We hope that the number of casualties will not increase further”

Reminding that 78 people have died in the flood disaster so far, Yapıcıoğlu said: “We hope that the loss of life will not increase further. It is necessary to take all possible measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.” (ILKHA)