Turkey earthquake destroys ancient city of AntakyaExBulletin

Yusuf Kocaoglu stands among the wreckage of earthquake-damaged buildings in Antakya, Turkey, as he tries to walk through the city where he used to take historical tours. Claire Harage/NPR .

Switch caption Claire Harage/NPR

Yusuf Kocaoglu stands among the wreckage of earthquake-damaged buildings in Antakya, Turkey, as he tries to walk through the city where he used to take historical tours.

Claire Harage/NPR

Antakya, Turkey – Yusuf Kocaoglu, a professional guide, leads us on a tour he never wanted to do.

The site of ancient Antioch – a crossroads of civilizations and a modern tourist and religious pilgrimage destination in southern Turkey – is one of the cities most destroyed by the February 6 earthquake that killed tens of thousands in Turkey and Syria.

For 10 years, Kocaoglu, a native of the city, has led tours of its historical core, guiding visitors from all over the world. It has now suffered near complete destruction. The bazaar, the breakfast spot for tourists, the local hangouts – all destroyed.

“There is nowhere I can take you now because they are all destroyed,” he says. Most of the people left the city.

Built around 300 B.C., the city, now called Antakya, has survived several previous disastrous earthquakes. Now, Turkish military vehicles, on patrol to keep the peace, are rolling through entire streets reduced to rubble. It is believed that the bodies are still rotting under the rubble.

A view inside the dome of the historic Habib al-Najjar Mosque in Antakya. Claire Harage/NPR .

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A view inside the dome of the historic Habib al-Najjar Mosque in Antakya.

Claire Harage/NPR

The February 6 earthquake and aftershocks destroyed monuments of world heritage and religion in the city, which was an early cradle of Christianity and important in the Roman Empire. Historic sites across the region suffered.

“Earthquakes have destroyed buildings that span centuries and cultures, from Roman forts to historic mosques to churches sacred to a number of Christian denominations,” Benedict de Montlauer, president and CEO of the World Monuments Fund, told National Public Radio. “We have no doubt that the legacy lost in these tragic events will take years to repair and that we will need significant international mobilization to support local efforts,” he added.

The scene of the city’s centuries-old residents – Alawites, Alawites, Armenians, Christians, Jews and, in recent years, Syrian war refugees, has now been scattered. There were more than 200,000 people living in the city before the earthquake, but the survivors who remained in the surrounding area now live in tents, including Kocaoglu.

“Antakya and the surrounding region has a deep and varied history and has long been home to people who spoke different languages ​​and practiced different religions,” says Jennifer Stager, an ancient Antioch researcher at Johns Hopkins University. “It is essential that our focus remains on living people in need, recognizing that these monuments are an important part of the region’s history and contemporary life.”

Mosques were destroyed

Military personnel walking in front of the Habib al-Najjar Mosque in Antakya. Claire Harage/NPR .

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Military personnel walking in front of the Habib al-Najjar Mosque in Antakya.

Claire Harage/NPR

The mosque, which Turkey claims is the oldest in Anatolia, has collapsed. The Habib al-Najjar Mosque was built as a church in AD 638 and has been converted back and forth over the centuries from a church to a mosque. It was destroyed in an earthquake in 1853 and rebuilt during the Ottoman period, but its 17th-century minaret remains standing. After this month’s earthquake, the minaret and the roof of the mosque disappeared.

Sermaye Mosque, built in the early 18th century, was unique in mosque architecture for its entrance built through the minaret. Now the minaret is a stump. Other mosques in Antakya are whole piles of rubble, like the new mosque dating back to the Ottoman era, known as Yeni Camii.

A man throws rubbish into a fire on the street in front of the minaret of Sarmai Mosque before an earthquake causes it to fall. Claire Harage/NPR .

Switch caption Claire Harage/NPR

A man throws rubbish into a fire on the street in front of the minaret of Sarmai Mosque before an earthquake causes it to fall.

Claire Harage/NPR

The Ulu Mosque, built in the 18th century, used to broadcast the call to prayer five times a day in the center of the city. Now completely gone. Loudspeakers attached to street poles now carry the call to prayer — a symbol, Kocaoglu says, that life in Antakya clings to.

The churches are in ruins

The Apostle Peter brought Christianity to ancient Antioch in the first few decades after the death of Jesus. The New Testament says that this city was the place where Christians were first called Christians.

The Orthodox Church in Antakya, which was the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate until the 14th century, was devastated in the earthquake – its facade is now a mixture of iron debris and cement.

Yusuf Kocaoglu refers to the Orthodox Church in Antakya that was destroyed during the earthquake. Claire Harage/NPR .

Switch caption Claire Harage/NPR

Yusuf Kocaoglu refers to the Orthodox Church in Antakya that was destroyed during the earthquake.

Claire Harage/NPR

A new Protestant church, housed in a building built in 1860 and formerly the site of the French Consulate, was also destroyed. Run by a Korean Methodist group, its South Korean pastor, Jacob Chang, led Mass on Sunday in the street outside the church. One worshiper was lost in the earthquake.

“It’s very difficult,” the priest sighs. “Can I do something? No. We just lean on each other. Hold on to each other. That’s what I have to do.”

A Jewish community grieves

Ancient Antioch was also a major center of Judaism outside the Holy Land. The Jewish community remained in the city for 2,300 years. By the time of the February earthquake, they numbered only a dozen or so members.

The synagogue in Antakya is still standing after suffering minor damage. The ancient Torah scroll, written on antelope paper, was taken out of the city for safekeeping after the earthquake.

After the earthquake, the surviving members of the community moved to Istanbul. The head of the Antakya Jewish community, Saul Sinoudioglu, and his wife, Fortuna, were killed when their apartment building collapsed.

Yusuf Kocaoglu standing in front of the synagogue in Antakya, which is still standing. The leader of the small Jewish community in Antakya died in the earthquake. Claire Harage/NPR .

Switch caption Claire Harage/NPR

Yusuf Kocaoglu standing in front of the synagogue in Antakya, which is still standing. The leader of the small Jewish community in Antakya died in the earthquake.

Claire Harage/NPR

“He was really hospitable,” says our guide Kocaoglu. “He loved helping people.”

It is unclear whether the few surviving Jews in the city would return to live there after the earthquake.

beer among the ruins

Part of the Pasha Restaurant still stands among the ruins in Antakya. Claire Harage/NPR .

Switch caption Claire Harage/NPR

Part of the Pasha Restaurant still stands among the ruins in Antakya.

Claire Harage/NPR

Lonely Planet’s guide to Turkey sums up Antakya’s charm in one sentence: “Parts of the ancient city cling on amidst the modern bustle.” Today, a narrow street of bars and restaurants lies in waste.

For the first time on the tour, Kocaoglu turned away to cry.

“This is the heart of Antioch,” he says. “We had a lot of memories here with my friends, with my guests from different countries. I remember them.”

A bulldozer paved a hilly path through the wreckage. Amidst the ruins stands one of his favorite old accommodations, Pasha Restaurant, sliced ​​in the middle. Rescuing crates of beer from the rubble, owner Orhan Oyanc wonders about the fate of a couple who got engaged here recently.

Orhan Oyanc (left), owner of Pasha Restaurant in Antakya, sits in the rubble and cracks one of the remaining beers that survived the earthquake. Claire Harage/NPR .

Switch caption Claire Harage/NPR

Orhan Oyanc (left), owner of Pasha Restaurant in Antakya, sits in the rubble and cracks one of the remaining beers that survived the earthquake.

Claire Harage/NPR

Despite the catastrophic loss, Kocaoglu, and everyone we meet along the way, clings to the Turkish government’s promise to rebuild Antakya and its historic sites—and we take solace in how the city has rebounded through the ages.

Kocaoglu says the city has been “damaged by earthquakes six or seven times. Maybe this is the eighth. It doesn’t matter.” “We will try to do something for our city again and again.”

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