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Following the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred in İstanbul on September 26, the public discussed the earthquake assembly areas being zoned for construction and the "earthquake tax" that has been collected since the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake where 18 thousand people were killed.
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CHP MP Dr. İlhami Özcan Aygün has brought the discussion into the parliamentary agenda, directing a parliamentary question to Vice President Fuat Oktay. He asked the following questions:
- After the 1999 earthquake, 496 assembly areas were determined in Istanbul. Unfortunately, it is seen that most of these have been turned into shopping malls, plazas and workplaces by 2019. The İstanbul Branch of the Chamber of Civil Engineers explained that the number of gathering areas is now down to 77 and pointed out that it is not possible for the citizens to fit in the designated places of emergency in the event of a major İstanbul earthquake. Will you take measures for the number of the assembly areas in Turkey, especially in İstanbul, to increase in accordance with the population?
- Turkcell and Vodafone GSM lines, as well as the Türk Telekom, went down due to the earthquake. The GSM operators, which are apparently not ready for an earthquake, being down even in a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that does not damage their infrastructure caused a reaction from citizens. The collapse of critical telephone lines during an earthquake cannot be excused. Are you going to do a study on establishing the necessary infrastructure for uninterrupted communication during an earthquake?
- The fact that Türk Telekom tries to compensate for its error by providing free internet to its customers who cannot use their lines due to the earthquake is an acceptance of the suffering they have created. Will the penal mechanism be implemented for this problem caused by the GSM operators who put high interest rates on their customers in all delays in invoice payments?
- Special Communication Tax imposed to strengthen the communication infrastructure after the 1999 earthquake and to take measures against earthquakes has raised 64 billion TRY to date. What has this money been used for so far? Why was this money not spent on earthquake-related communication measures?
- How much money was collected within the framework of the earthquake tax imposed after the 1999 earthquake? Where has this resource been spent? (DB/VK)