Turkish soldiers arrive in quake-devastated areas

Patrick Quinn

Sunday, Aug. 22, 1999 | 9:23 a.m.

ISTANBUL, Turkey - More Turkish soldiers were sent on Sunday to quake-devastated areas, where many residents were enraged because they believe the government held off a mass mobilization at a time of major crisis.

The official death toll from Tuesday's quake has surpassed 12,000 and some officials predicted as many as 40,000 could be dead. But amid the tears Sunday an astonishing ray of hope: A 45-year-old invalid woman was found alive after nearly 5 and a half days trapped in the town of Golcuk, about 110 miles southeast of Istanbul.

As rescuers scaled back survivor searches, much criticism was focused on why Turkey's military forces - one of the region's largest with nearly 800,000 servicemen - appeared to hold off on a mass mobilization to dig for survivors and tackle relief operations.

Even the increasing deployment of soldiers through the quake zone seemed more designed to maintain order than provide help. Turkish media reported soldiers have blocked some suspected looting - which has been so far very limited.

"The organization is no good at all. Some people are getting too much and other people are getting nothing," complained Emrullah Azturk in Yalova, about 30 miles south of Istanbul.

There was speculation in the Turkish media that the military response was complicated by the possibility of Turkey declaring martial law. That is a particularly sensitive issue in a nation that has experienced three military coups in the past 20 years. The government decided such a decree was unnecessary, said the military chief of staff, Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu.

Kivrikoglu insisted more than 53,000 soldiers have been involved in efforts since hours after the quake struck and have pulled nearly 20,000 survivors from the rubble. Independent confirmation wasn't immediately available.

"We have the strength to overcome the damage of this earthquake very soon," Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said in a nationwide address. "We only need to trust the power of our nation and our state."

With the chance of finding survivors slipping away, bulldozers and trucks moved into more sites to haul away rubble from the more than 115,000 destroyed buildings. Just eight people were rescued Saturday.

Still, survivors continued to beat the odds. A French-Turkish search team pulled out Adalet Cetinol - whose last names means "be tough" - from the remains of a five-story building in Golcuk after being trapped for nearly 130 hours.

Her son, Darcan, said he urged rescuers to the wreckage after a dream in which his mother called out: "I'm alive, come and save me." In reality, however, she cannot speak at all. She has been unable to talk or walk following a stroke, witnesses said.

In the Golcuk area, the disaster was compounded by surging waves and tides churned by the quake and aftershocks. Divers pulled more than 150 bodies from areas swallowed by the Sea of Marmara, Turkish state television reported Sunday.

With bodies piling up in makeshift morgues, health authorities grappled with ways to block possible epidemics such as typhoid fever, cholera or dysentery. Officials have sprayed disinfectants and distributed water purification tablets in some regions and started spreading purifying lime on rubble and roads.

Rains were forecast starting Monday, which could complicate rescue efforts and pose increased health risks.

Meanwhile, officials slowly began acknowledging that the death toll could more than triple.

When asked if the numbers could rise as high as 40,000, Sergio Piazzi, head of the European desk at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said it "is a possibility."

Turkey's semi-official Anatolia News Agency reported that British and Dutch rescue teams were leaving places such as Adapazari province, where more than 3,000 people died and 5,000 were injured.

"The reason we came here was to save people. That has ended," the agency quoted Edward Pearne, head of a British rescue crew, as saying.

President Clinton urged Americans to contribute to the relief effort.

"Turkey is our longtime ally and the people of Turkey are our friends," the vacationing president said in a statement. "Now, with many of them in desperate need, we must do all we can to help, and we will."

The assault ship USS Kearsarge was expected to arrive Monday. Fully staffed, the ship's hospital will have four operating rooms, 17 intensive care beds and 47 general ward beds. It can also provide medical assistance to 500 more people.

Even as Turkey struggled to rebuild, it was clear the mourning period was far from over.

The interior ministry ordered nightclubs to suspend playing music in respect for the victims.

The Star newspaper juxtaposed two pictures taken at 2 a.m. Sunday: One of a woman dancing on her chair at a nightclub on the Aegean Sea resort of Cesme; the other showed crews digging through the night at a toppled building.