Istanbul Deputy Governor Hasan Gözen, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, AFAD Provincial Director Prof. Dr. Haluk Özener, Ümraniye District Governor Yüksel Çelik, Tekirdağ Associations Federation President Yüksel Arslan, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Social Contribution Coordinator Dr. Lecturer Nebiye Yaşar, and Faculty of Medicine, Head of Family Medicine Department Dr. Lecturer Ayhan Özşahin attended the opening program held at the Üsküdar Üniversitesi Central Campus Senate Hall.
The academic consultancy of the project is undertaken by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, the social innovation model project consultancy by Social Contribution Coordinator Dr. Lecturer Nebiye Yaşar, and the project coordination by Faculty of Medicine, Head of Family Medicine Department Dr. Lecturer Ayhan Özşahin.
Deputy Governor Hasan Gözen: “Organized societies are always successful”
Speaking at the opening program, Istanbul Deputy Governor Hasan Gözen touched upon the importance of coordination, institutional responsibility, and a holistic approach in disaster management.
Gözen; “Disaster is the number one agenda item for our country. The earthquakes experienced in various regions of our country, and the work carried out after these earthquakes, suggest a lack of awareness. Organized societies are always successful. When we are disorganized and unaware of each other, the price we pay for even the slightest incident is high. Therefore, we need to institutionalize our knowledge and experience regarding disasters and present it to the service of society in a continuous manner. We need to correctly determine our settlement areas and position our residences accordingly.” he said.
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan gave a seminar titled “The Female Bird Makes the Nest”. Tarhan discussed the vital role of the family institution in terms of psychological resilience and social sustainability.
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “We can deliver education to our capillaries”
Evaluating the Disaster-Proof Homes project, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan began his speech by saying; “This project is an exemplary work of public, university, and NGO cooperation. It is small, but its meaning is great. If this project is appropriately accepted, and if we can reach families through initiatives like Volunteer Disaster Ambassadorship, we will have delivered education to our capillaries.”
“The best way to combat a crisis is to be prepared for it”
Emphasizing the importance of mental transformation, Tarhan said; “The best way to combat a crisis is to be prepared for it. To be prepared for a crisis, one must first be mentally ready. Without mental transformation, social transformation cannot occur. And without social transformation, political transformation cannot occur. Therefore, our priority is mental transformation. The first person to do this in the family is the mother. The role of motherhood needs to be strengthened. The saying ‘The female bird makes the nest’ is closely related to the primary role of the mother in our culture. Between the ages of 0-3, a mother or the person replacing her constantly providing a sense of security affects the child's brain development by 50 percent. The neural circuits in the brain become more developed.”
How is the basic sense of trust formed in a child?
Defining "nursery sickness", Tarhan said; “There is a nursery sickness, called hospitalization. There are children left in front of mosques, they are few in Turkey but have started to increase. They suddenly die in nurseries. Despite being very well cared for. They are fed, watered, but they don't develop, they die suddenly because caregivers change frequently. One day someone takes the child in their arms and loves them, another day someone else acts as caregiver. The child does not develop a basic sense of trust. The child perceives ‘Life is not safe.’ If the same person touches them in the same way, if they smell that person, that synaptic development in their brain happens quickly. Thus, the child begins to explore the outside world. Otherwise, they withdraw, don't secrete growth hormone. When growth hormone is not secreted, the body doesn't eat even if fed, becomes resentful of life, and sudden deaths occur. For the basic sense of trust to form in a child, there must be a resolute, consistent, and continuous motherly role.”
“If the state is the mind of society, the family is its heart”
Drawing attention to the global threats awaiting the world, Tarhan said; “Post-traumatic growth is possible in every disaster. Primary protection, prevention. Secondary protection, risk reduction. Then treatment or disaster intervention. And thirdly, post-disaster training, rehabilitations. Emotional intelligence develops in the family. If the state is the mind of society, the family is its heart. When the heart is corrupted, all emotions are corrupted. And when emotions are corrupted, chaos ensues. Can you imagine a heartless society? An emotionless, selfish society... In a society where selfish people increase, there is a death of the heart, there is destruction. This is very dangerous, it is a global threat right now. That is why the decrease in the world population, the increase in addiction, and the increase in crisis are due to this.”
“In traumas, breaks occur at the weakest links”
Tarhan, stating that the weakest links break first in a crisis, said; “There are many friends on social media, but zero true friends. There are more people, but less humanity. There are bigger televisions, but we read fewer books. There are expensive watches, but no time at all. We are more suspicious, we trust less. There is more deceit, we see less honesty. There is much entertainment, we show little empathy. There is more material prosperity, but we have less spiritual peace. We are in such a society. There are crisis paradoxes. When there is a crisis in a society, breaks first occur at the weakest link. Just as a chain breaks at its weakest link under tension, the same happens in society. In these traumas, breaks occur at the weak links, the chain breaks.”
“If the diagnosis is wrong, the treatment does not yield results”
Describing the changes in the Turkish family structure, Tarhan said; “In Turkey, between 1994 and 2016, five-person households rapidly decreased, while single-person households increased. The striking changes in family structure show us the increase in single-person households and single-parent families. The shrinking of household size symbolizes an increase in the number of fragile households. Normally, our birth rate should be 2.1, it is currently 1.5. This indicates a noticeable decrease in population in 20-30 years. This is a serious danger, which is why the family year was declared. The solution here is not to encourage marriage, but to find the diagnosis. If the diagnosis is wrong, the treatment does not yield results. Instead of short-term diagnoses, it is necessary to proceed according to the real medium to long-term diagnosis. The marriage rate has increased by 1.6 percent, while the divorce rate has increased by 54 percent. We are experiencing a cultural crisis. Finding its cause is important.”
“A questioning person finds the truth”
Stating that parents should be democratic, Tarhan concluded his speech by saying; “Democratic parenting is very important. Our classical parenting is autocratic parenting. This era has passed. Children question, and a questioning person finds the truth. Why should someone who trusts the truth be afraid to question? Democracy means criticality, libertarianism, pluralism, participation. The duty of the mother and father is to warn the children. It is not possible to make them good and beautiful by force; on the contrary, when this happens, hostile children emerge. Active listening and family sessions are very important here.”
Prof. Dr. Haluk Özener: “We need to create disaster-aware societies”
AFAD Istanbul Provincial Director Prof. Dr. Haluk Özener stated that strengthening household-based awareness in reducing disaster risks and integrating individual preparedness with institutional planning are essential. Özener said; “A disaster-resilient society and a disaster culture are very important. We have no chance to prevent natural events, but we have a chance not to turn these events into disasters. At the forefront of these is risk reduction. We can also include education in risk reduction. Everyone needs to come together on this issue. Everyone who comes together on disaster issues and makes even the slightest contribution is highly valued. We see that there is truly a very serious effort in this regard. The post-disaster response and recovery efforts made after the disaster of the century, which would be difficult to cope with anywhere in the world, are commendable. From now on, we will strengthen ourselves in terms of risk reduction and education. We need to create disaster-aware societies.”
The importance of a sustainable disaster management model was emphasized
Tekirdağ Associations Federation President Yüksel Arslan drew attention to the critical role of NGOs in disaster preparedness, while Ümraniye District Governor Yüksel Çelik emphasized the importance of local and sustainable disaster management models developed through public, university, and civil society cooperation. Çelik said; “I hope this project will be beneficial. Our country is a disaster-prone country, and Istanbul is one of our most important cities with disaster risk. I believe this project will make significant contributions, especially in terms of raising awareness and consciousness.”
Project presentation was made
Subsequently, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, Head of Family Medicine Department Dr. Lecturer Ayhan Özşahin presented the Disaster-Proof Homes project, addressing the scientific dimension of disaster preparedness within the framework of a family-based preventive health approach.
The critical role of the disaster preparedness process was highlighted
Tekirdağ Associations Federation President Yüksel Arslan, delivering the opening speech of the program, drew attention to the critical role of civil society organizations in the disaster preparedness process and the decisive impact of local solidarity networks on social resilience.
The opening program concluded with a group photo session.
