Antakya, the capital of Turkey’s Hatay Province, is a city of many cultures, religions, and languages. Tour guide Mehmet Severoğlu has been showing visitors around the city for 20 years and has seen it change over time. But the earthquake that struck on the morning of February 6th has left the city almost unrecognisable.
Mehmet takes us through the city, weaving around fallen slabs of concrete and past rescue workers in hard hats. He points out the region’s government office, where the clock has stopped at 04:34, the time of the earthquake. We pass a hotel built during the French mandate after World War One, its stonework smashed and open to the elements. Everywhere we go, we see piles of white stones and black steel ornate gates, the remains of homes and businesses.
We come to a store that served hummus for 150 years, a favourite spot for tourists. Mehmet’s voice chokes as he tells us that two of the owners have left Antakya and he doesn’t know what happened to the rest. We find the remains of the Greek Orthodox Church by spotting its bell on its side at the top of a pile of bricks. The bell tower is now dust.
The synagogue is locked but Mehmet tells us that the small community were able to rescue their holy books and flee. We find one man weeping outside a butcher’s shop where his nephew worked. “Our dear one has gone,” he says. “The world has ended for me.”
Our final visit is to Habibi Neccar, one of the first mosques in the region of Hatay. Mehmet explains that seven big earthquakes have been recorded in Hatay’s history, but each time it has been rebuilt. He says, “It is not the first time that Hatay has been destroyed, but each time we have rebuilt. We will be reborn again.”
The destruction caused by the earthquake is heartbreaking, but Antakya’s people remain resilient and determined to rebuild their city. As Mehmet says, “We will be reborn again.”