With Turkey and Syria still unable to overcome the pain and debris of the recent earthquakes that left more than 46 thousand deaths (between the two countries) and hundreds of thousands injured, we spoke with Hakely Nakao Chávez, a Cuban artist who has lived in Istanbul since 2015. She and her Turkish husband were not directly hit by the earthquake, but the wounds are open and she tries to collaborate with what he has: his art.
They had just returned that night from a voyage across the Aegean Sea when the earthquake struck. But they were lucky. Although in a risk zone, they were far enough away to not even wake up. “We didn’t feel anything and we found out from the news. The closest friends were not affected either ”, she says with relief.
“One feels alive and grateful for being part of the vast majority that does not directly suffer the ravages of this misfortune, but it is inevitable that pain and anguish overwhelm you, even if it is someone else’s.” And that empathy activates feelings of solidarity, the desire to share. “And if what there is to share is at least hope, then that is shared”, she reflects.
Prioritize human life
The reasons for sadness are multiplied by the negligence of the Turkish State, assures this Cuban. “There have been more losses due to putting up sociological barriers that should not exist when it comes to saving a life. The south-east of Turkey, a region ravaged by war, is the region of the Kurds, who have been discriminated against all their lives for their religion and other socio-cultural reasons”.
“Right now it would be necessary to prioritize human life and then the wars will continue, but they have not stopped, and the State has not made any effort to save anyone there. Only the population and the local authorities, who also have no resources, and that has caused the misfortune to be greater ”, he considers.
Other evils have come to the surface with the telluric movement. “In addition to the fact that the earthquake has been extremely large, corruption has come to the surface, new streets have been destroyed, buildings without protection, many of the large collapses have been new buildings. And that is the great pain of the Turkish people, who are crying for the consequences of mistakes and corruption.”
five lives saved
Hakely’s brother-in-law, Dogukan Ozturk, a young civil engineer who graduated from Istanbul Technical University, headed to those most forgotten areas. With his knowledge of hazards, rescue and salvage, he enlisted as a volunteer. “He was motivated to know that there were many cities that could not receive immediate help and the weather conditions were devastating.”
In the eastern city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border, “what he found was a disaster.” It is the hottest and most deteriorated area from the material and human point of view, precisely.
“The team welcomed him as a leader, they told him: we follow you because there is no organization, we don’t know what to do and who to listen to. They were able to save 5 lives in the two days they were active. The last one was a mother with her daughter, and it was almost a miracle, when more than 120 hours had passed since the disaster.”
with their own hands
“He saw a man trying to remove rubble with his bare hands in a building, and very calmly he explained that his entire family lived in that 5 or 6-story building, there were a total of about 15 people. He was trying to get them all out, but every time he found a body he was already dead.”
Images that remained in his retina and in his mind, more than in a camera. She brought a couple of videos and photos, she didn’t have the time or the heart to film what was happening, explains Hakely.
He also came, he assures, with a less media and more human vision, with reflections on his own life. He “he has returned changed into another person”.
Toast What I Have: Art
Meanwhile, from Istanbul, Hakely tries not to sit idly by.
“My brother-in-law’s experience has given me more elements, because until now what I had were very personal conclusions. But he was there and I know that he is not exaggerating or lying.
Although they provided material aid through an NGO, he acknowledges that it is only a grain of sand and that there are equally important intangible supports. “Despite being a foreigner, this has given me the opportunity to offer what I have, which is art.”
Since arriving in Turkey, Hakely has tried to build cultural bridges between her two lands. In 2017 he created a music band with which he has been touring the country, especially with the best-known songs of the Cuban repertoire. In addition, he teaches classes in which he links the roots of Cuban music with those of Turkey, “two cultures that are really very close, although geographically they are very distant,” he considers.
He has also set poems by emblematic Turkish writers to music, translating them into Spanish and incorporating them into his repertoire with genres of Cuban music. These days, that has also been his contribution, like that of other artists.
“After the catastrophe, culture comes to heal the soul. Several cultural movements have been launched to help give a little hope. We have all been transformed, because Turkey is very divided, and this is a call for unity of heart, to feel part of the same place and to all look in the same direction. Because the most important thing is human life, and you have to help save it from any profession. Art that is not made to heal is not art”, she concludes.
