OPINION:
An age-old question is whether great men are born great or become that way through their circumstances.
In the United States, Abraham Lincoln is generally accepted as a great American president. Some scholars think he was the best ever. Lincoln was not flawless, of course, but the 16th president faced down the deadliest war in the country’s history. He won the war, united a nation and freed an entire race.
The name Winston Churchill usually evokes an image of 20th-century greatness. Churchill exhibited no shortage of public faults. When first elected to Parliament, he squandered his early political capital with a series of self-imposed political blunders. Ultimately, however, Churchill is remembered for warning against Hitler long before most Europeans were even paying attention. History demonstrates he was an essential part of the Allied forces that ended World War II.
Lincoln and Churchill are great examples of mortal men stepping up meeting the challenge history put before them.
It was through that same lens that we must look at the leadership of the nation of Turkey as they recover from a devastating February earthquake that Turkish authorities say killed more than 43,000 people. Thousands of buildings were destroyed or rendered unsafe, thus hundreds of thousands of people were left in the rain and snow without shelter, running water or other basic necessities. Millions were affected.
Few natural disasters in the history of the world have had such an impact on so many people. Would the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan step up at this critical moment?
In a word, yes.
Nurdagı, a town in Gaziantep province, was the epicenter of the earthquake. Before the quake, the city center had a population of roughly 20,000 people, but it lost 2,028 souls in the February disaster. The destruction was so great that nearly all homes in the city center either collapsed or were deemed unfit to enter. The temperature at the time hovered around zero degrees Celsius.
I visited Nurdagi roughly 90 days after the event. A residential container city had been set up at the city center. Each unit was roughly 22 feet long and 10 feet deep. Each featured a bathroom, a main room and a modest kitchen. Families, some of as many as six or seven, including children, took up residence in each unit; 17,000 people, nearly the entire community, are being housed in the temporary units.
I spoke with Faruk Olcucu, a middle-aged resident. His daughter, his mother and his grandmother were all living with him in the 220-square-foot container the Turkish government had provided. His wife and brother were killed in the earthquake. Faruk had literally no worldly possessions left after his home was destroyed. The government provided a couch, a television and other minor living accommodations along with the residential container itself.
Despite his dire situation, Faruk offered me food and tea. He had nothing, but he wanted to give me something. The spirit was amazing. Hope and appreciation were both clearly evident.
Faruk says Mr. Erdogan visited the town literally as soon as the residential containers began to go up and has been completely supportive of the community and its people. In Faruk’s words, the president is “number one, absolutely the best.”
I was told by government workers that Mr. Erdogan has been to Nurdagi at least three times since the initial visit to make sure the cleanup, the temporary housing and the new construction are all progressing as fast as possible.
On the day of my visit, the president was holding a celebratory rally in a nearby village where 14 families were being given new permanent homes. They were beautiful, colorful, multi-bedroom houses, and they were built and provided absolutely free to displaced residents.
In the coming months, the government will oversee the building of thousands of these homes in the affected areas. It is no coincidence that thousands of people turned out to get a look at the new houses, to wave the Turkish flag and to cheer for their president.
It occurred to me as I watched the jubilant crowd that the president was not simply giving a few people a place to live, he was planting the seeds of hope for an entire community. He was replacing the pain and grief endured by these people with a glimpse of a happy and prosperous tomorrow. They have something specific and tangible to look forward to.
Hospital buildings, like everything else, sustained considerable damage from the quake. Turkey responded by setting up warships as fully equipped hospitals in a number of locations. A patient can enter, be assessed, get simple urgent care, or be prepared and scheduled for complex surgery. Two babies had been born on the converted warship I visited, the TCG Bayraktar.
The bottom line is that necessities such as food, shelter, education and health care were effectively addressed with stunning quickness. A plan has been drafted and is already being implemented to permanently replace housing, businesses and damaged infrastructure. It’s not been easy — tragic emergencies never are — but the sitting government has been nothing short of incredible in its response. Perfect? Of course not, but amazing nonetheless.
That takes us back to the question of greatness. Mr. Erdogan, up for reelection in mid-May, has thus far been equal to the task. He and his team have responded to a crisis of the greatest magnitude with rapid precision. There is certainly a long road ahead in Turkey’s recovery, and history will be the final judge, but in the first 90 days after the earthquake, impressive leadership has been on full display.
• Tim Constantine is a columnist with The Washington Times.
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