Abstract

The 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes were recorded as the most destructive earthquakes in the history of the Republic of Turkey. This level 4 disaster required the cooperation of thousands of people and many different organizations. This paper discusses the contributions of good governance examples to the success of disaster crisis management in the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes in terms of the authors experiences and observations in the disaster area. Due to space limitations, one example is given in the abstract and other examples in the full text. The example will be on the good governance in the temporary shelter area created due to the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. In the tent city, public-private-civil cooperation was carried out in different fields such as disaster shelter, health, security, education, psychosocial support. In some cases, different public institutions, the private sector and non-governmental organizations have supported the resolution of crises by working on issues that are not included in the TAMP and their own internal regulations. In these processes, the aim has been to successfully work together to contribute to disaster management, putting aside their own/institutional interests. For example, while the fire protection of tents used as temporary shelters is carried out by fire brigades, which are units of local governments, instead of fire brigades working intensively in the rubble, this task was carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces, non-governmental organizations working and trained in the field of disasters, and disaster victims in cooperation in the tent cities. As a result, a tent fire was extinguished within seconds and a second disaster was prevented through a governance approach. Therefore, as the example shows, good governance is a key approach for successful disaster management and prevention of secondary disasters.

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