MAN MADE OR NATURAL?

Here are some of the night news;

- The chief of the Turkish armed forces, General Buyukanit, speak today at a NATO meeting about the possibility of Turkish military intervention against terrorist PKK forces in northern Iraq.

- Former US State Department Assistant Richard Holbrooke told CNN that he believes Ankara will go ahead with military operation against PKK terror forces in northern Iraq within the next week.

- The Turkish Parliament will see a historical diplomatic event take place tomarrow, as both the Israeli President Simon Peres and the Palestinian State President Mahmut Abbas will come together. They will both give a speech in Parliament.

- Van military court ordered the arrest of 8 Turkish soldiers who were previously kidnapped from the Hakkari region of Turkey by PKK, and then set free 14 days later in northern Iraq. The group of soldiers were charged on a variety of counts, ranging from "acting in a manner anathema to their charged duty," to "willful disobedience of orders," to "disappearance outside the country."

- Nine members of the terrorist group the PKK surrendered to Turkish security forces in the past 36 hours.

- An investigation launched into allegations a member of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party received training in a camp operated by the terrorist group the PKK.

- Thousands of Kurdish guerrillas crossed the border into Iran to escape a Turkish offensive against their mountain redoubts in northern Iraq, a former rebel leader said.

- On Sunday night, PKK rebels kidnapped seven people, including two pro-government village guards, after stopping them at a roadblock near the Iranian border

- Leader of a pro-Kurdish political party in parliament, Nurettin Demirtas charged with preparing and using fake official documents.» Demirtas is the newly elected leader of the Democratic Society Party, which has 20 seats in the legislature. If convicted, Demirtas faces up to five years in prison. He spent some 10 years in prison for membership in the PKK.

Last minute breaking news is the unexpected visit of the chief executive of Turkish Armed forces to the meeting of Ministers and PM. It happened rather late in afternoon and raised questions about possible operation. Some TV anchormen reported informations on the operation as "anything may happen any minute" or asked if it may happen tonight. And a few minutes ago; Goverment banned any news about the soldiers in jail.

According to me there are two things much more important than all above. 1- It is the eight anniversary of Duzce earthquake and we shouldn't forget the earthquake Istanbul is waiting. 2- The ship accidents at Black Sea because of the late storms. Oil is leaking to Black Sea from petroleum tankers and it may end with an important ecology disaster.

Lets forget about wars, terror etc for a second and think about our planet.

Some optimistic reports' (The World Bank Report No: 38764-TR) estimations for the possible quake are;

Deaths - 73,000 - 87,000
Severely injured - 120,000 - 135,000
Building Damages (Heavily +Moderately +Partly) 252,000 - 300,000

(These are really very optimistic estimations when only Istanbul's nearly 20 million population taken into consideration.)

And about the Black Sea for pollution; it is already polluted. Let aside the industrial toxins carried by the rivers, there is very low mixing between the surface layer and the deeper waters. That prevents penetration of oxygen to deeper regions, there is no oxygen below 200 meters. Marine animals and algae can not live in the anoxic zone.

Still it is an important fishing source. Turkey is 30th in world fishing with 500.000 tons of production. 77 percent of this production comes from Black Sea. 8.5 million of our population lives along the Black Sea coast and most of them depends on fishing for their living. Fish is the cheapest protein source for the people. And we are not even mentioning other countries having coasts to Black Sea.

Which should make us worry more; a possible military operation to northern Iraq or a possible major earthquake and pollution of our food supplies?

Or which should we prefer; "man made" or "natural" disasters/ deaths?

Which is worse; to hide from bullets and bombs or being trapped in ruins?
Hide and seek is a game even children are beginning to forget!...