Disaster crises management in Turkey: 1999 Marmara earthquake case
Earthquakes are one of the major disasters that require a holistic approach in crisis management strategies owing to their devastating effects. However, the continuing incapability of some countries learning from earthquakes poses a major policy problem for disaster reduction and response. Up until the Marmara Earthquake, Turkey was one of these countries. This paper examines the conditions and characteristics contributing to the massive 1999 Marmara earthquake that devastated the country in a large scale and resulted in many casualties, never seen before in its history. It also focuses on the response of the government to this earthquake and lessons learnt from the disaster in terms of preparedness as well as processes of mitigation, response and recovery. It tries to explain the conditions that lead to changes in a wide range of areas from insurance of buildings to their construction standards realized by the government in order to reduce its vulnerability to future disasters.

Ozet
Depremler, yikici etkilerinin buyuklugu nedeniyle kriz yonetimi stratejilerinde butuncul yaklasimi gerektiren en onemli dogal afetlerden birisidir. Bununla beraber, bazi ulkelerin meydana gelen daha onceki depremlerden gerekli dersleri cikarma konusundaki yetersizlikleri, bu tur dogal afetlere karsi hazirlikli olma ve felaketin yikici etkilerini minimuma indirme konusunda ciddi bir politika eksikligine isaret etmektedir. Marmara Depremine kadar Turkiye’ de bu ulkelerden birisiydi. Bu makale, tarihte gorulmedik derecede yikici olan ve pekcok insanin hayatini kaybetmesine yol acan 1999 Marmara Depreminin kosullarini ve karakteristik ozelliklerini incelemektedir. Makale, devletin sozkonusu depreme yaklasimini ve bundan sonra gerceklesebilecek muhtemel depremlere hazirlik ve etkilerini minimuma indirme anlaminda bu depremden ogrenilen derslere de odaklanmaktadir. Bu makale ayrica, olasi bir depreme hazir olma mahiyetinde; deprem sigortasi yaptirma mecburiyetinden, bina yapimina getirilen standartlara kadar pek cok alanda devlet tarafindan hayata gecirilen yenilikleri de aciklamaya calismaktadir.