Families seek help in hunt for missing in Feb 6 quakes

HATAY

Families of those who went missing in the deadly Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes on Feb. 6 last year are still desperately searching for their loved ones a year on.

The twin earthquakes affected 11 southern provinces and left the region with a death toll of nearly 50,000, with many people missing. On Sep. 25, 2023, relatives of the missing people founded the Association for Solidarity with Earthquake Victims and Relatives of the Missing (DEMAK-DER). The association received 145 missing applications, including 38 children.

"Although it has been a year, I still haven't found my daughter and two grandchildren. I want a search commission to be established in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. We are all distraught," said Suna Öztürk, whose relatives disappeared from the 12-story, 250-apartment Rönesans Residence in Hatay, which collapsed in the deadly quakes.

Bulut Özgül's wife and 16-month-old daughter were also among those who went missing after Rönesans Residence complex collapsed.

"I arrived at the rubble 9 hours after the earthquake and searched the entire area with the teams, mile by mile. I ask for help from our state. I demand more and faster exhumation of graves. I am still looking for my wife and daughter," Özgül said.

Legally, after a year of disappearance, a "certificate of absence" or a declaration of "presumption of death" can be issued for the missing. Relatives of the missing can apply to courts for a certificate of absenteeism. After a certificate of absenteeism is issued, the person is removed from the population count, but their death is not certain.

A declaration of "presumption of death" can be requested by both the relatives of the disappeared and the local authority by applying to the civil registry office. If a person for whom a "presumption of death" has been issued is later found, this decision is overturned.