B4-1384/95

Resolution on earthquakes and flooding in Turkey

The European Parliament,

A.whereas on 4 November 1995 heavy rainfall and flooding lead to the deaths of 57 persons in the city of Izmir, with a further nine persons missing and hundreds of families made homeless,

B.whereas on 1 October 1995 89 persons were killed and hundreds seriously injured in earthquakes, and the town all but totally destroyed,

C.whereas many of the deaths were accounted for by inadequately constructed buildings and defective town planning,

D.whereas disaster protection in Turkey and internationally continues to be inadequate,

1.Shares in the suffering of the families of the victims of earthquake and flooding in Turkey and extends to them its deepest sympathy;

2.Urges the Commission and the Member States to support the reconstruction work in Dinar and Izmir, and to commit themselves to the establishment of a European disaster emergency service and to preventive measures;

3.Urges the Turkish authorities to review the provisions contained in town planning and building regulations, and to ensure that unnecessary consequences of natural disasters, as in Dinar and Izmir, can be avoided;

4.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the governments and parliaments of the Member States and to the Turkish Government and the Turkish Grand National Assembly.