On the third anniversary of the February 6 earthquakes: Journalists could not report the disaster because 33 of them were trapped under the rubble

Rabia Çetin

More than 50,000 people lost their lives in the February 6, 2023 earthquakes that struck 11 provinces in southern Turkey. Among those trapped under the rubble were journalists who worked to inform the public. A total of 33 journalists and media workers died in the earthquakes. The body of journalist Fatih Nalbant, who died in the city of Kahramanmaraş—near the epicenter—was never recovered. These losses buried not only individual lives, but also the firsthand accounts and witness work of local journalism. One of the cities where this loss was most deeply felt was Adıyaman. In this city alone, 13 journalists died in the earthquake. One of them was Burak Alkuş, the owner of the local news outlet Adıyaman Ses Haber. This news story, based on an interview with his brother, Mustafa Alkuş, sheds light on the void left behind by the journalists who died on February 6, and on the struggle for memory, justice, and journalism carried on by those who remain.

Burak Alkuş, one of the 13 journalists who lost their lives in Adıyaman, was the owner of Adıyaman Ses Haber.

Having started journalism as a child, Alkuş followed the city’s agenda for years; most recently, he was working from home for the news website he founded.

Married and the father of one child, Alkuş and his wife were expecting their second child shortly before the earthquake. On the night of February 6, he was trapped under the rubble along with his wife and son in their six-story apartment building in the Karapınar neighborhood in central Adıyaman. The building’s first three floors collapsed entirely. Their bodies were recovered on the fourth day of the earthquake, found embracing one another.

The destruction after the earthquake and the inadequacy of search-and-rescue efforts turned into an irreversible trauma for the family. Although voices were heard from under the rubble for days, the response was limited. After the second major earthquake, the destruction worsened. The burial process itself became another ordeal. Mustafa Alkuş describes the process of recovering and burying their bodies:

“Some bodies were recovered by the evening of the third day. The burial took place on the fifth day. There was no space in the cemetery. A separate area had to be designated. We didn’t have a family burial plot. Nobody knew what to do.”

“We couldn’t make our voices heard because the journalists had died”

He says they realized the true scale of the disaster far too late:

“We only understood how massive the destruction was in Adıyaman when we went to the governor’s office to ask for help. We thought just a few buildings had collapsed, but in reality the entire city was destroyed. Aid and search-and-rescue teams arrived too late. We couldn’t make our voices heard—because the journalists who would have reported this, including my brother, were dead.”

After the earthquake, Adıyaman Ses Haber, the outlet Burak Alkuş had founded, resumed publishing roughly a month later thanks to the efforts of his brother. Mustafa Alkuş, who works as an office staffer for a private company, now manages the site outside of his working hours. He describes this not as a publishing decision but a sense of duty:

“I didn’t plan to continue at first. Then I felt it was a trust left to me. I had access to his passwords, I could access his phone. I continued the social media accounts the same way. Journalist friends in the field provide content and visuals. I’m not a news agency on my own, but I’m trying to protect what my brother left behind.”

His brother emphasizes that Burak was a well-known and beloved journalist in the city, and concludes with these words: “He used to write about the city’s problems. Many journalists like Burak died in the earthquake. What remains are incomplete stories and unfinished reports.”

Twelve other journalists died in Adıyaman in the February 6 earthquakes. Burak Alkuş’s story is just one part of the silence left behind by the deaths of 33 journalists and media workers in the disaster.

Journalism after the earthquake: A profession on top of the rubble

According to a report published by the Turkish Journalists’ Association on the first anniversary of the earthquakes, 32 journalists and media workers died in the February 6, 2023 quakes. Those who survived were forced to continue their profession in devastated cities under extremely insecure conditions.

The report noted that many media outlets’ offices were destroyed or rendered unusable. Journalists were working either from containers or their homes. Newspaper distribution was disrupted in many provinces due to rising costs of paper, printing, and distribution. The sharp drop in official advertisement and public notice revenues—or their use as tools of pressure—seriously undermined the sustainability of local media.

Precarity deepens, independent journalism paralyzed

According to the report, the number of registered journalists quickly declined, and many were working without insurance and for wages below the legal minimum. Public institutions began avoiding press conferences, instead distributing pre-written press releases. Suppression of critical coverage left independent journalism in the disaster zone effectively paralyzed.

In Kahramanmaraş, a journalist’s body was never recovered

In Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the earthquakes, one journalist died and their body was never recovered. Many journalists’ workplaces were destroyed. Journalists in the region attempted to continue their work without shelter, safety, or financial security.

Name by name: Journalists who died on February 6

Journalist Faruk Bildirici publicly shared the names and cities of the journalists and media workers who lost their lives in the earthquake in a report published on February 13, 2023. The 32 journalists and media professionals who died were:

• Ayşe Figen Arlı (İskenderun Ses – Hatay)

• Aziz Çevlik (Manşet – Kahramanmaraş)

• Burak Alkuş (Adıyaman Ses – Adıyaman)

• Burak Milli (Anadolu Agency – Hatay)

• Gökhan Aklan (İhlas News Agency – Hatay)

• Hidayet Özdemir (Journalist/Author – Adıyaman)

• İskender Korkut (Mercan TV – Adıyaman)

• İzzet Nazlı (Demirören News Agency – Hatay)

• Kemal Öner (Adıyaman Telgraf – Adıyaman)

• Meltem Özgen (TV presenter – Adana)

• Muhammed Akan (Adıyaman Haber – Adıyaman)

• Mustafa Yüzbaşıoğlu (Bugün – Kahramanmaraş)

• Neşet Alkan (Haber Ekspres – Hatay)

• Ruhi Akan (Jet Haber – Adıyaman)

• Yunus Emre Doğan (Mercan TV – Adıyaman)

• Zübeyir Pektaş (Halkın Sesi – Adıyaman)

• Fatih Bayın (Radyo Tek – Adıyaman)

• Fatih Nalbantbaşı (Maraş Medya Merkezi – Kahramanmaraş)

• Erhan Yılmaz (23 Temmuz – Hatay)

• Hasan Seid Okay (Member of Antakya Journalists’ Association, former journalist – Hatay)

• Mehmet Tekin (Founding member of Antakya Journalists’ Association, author – Hatay)

• Haluk Arlı (Former journalist – Hatay)

• İsmail Hakkı Koçak (Mercan TV – Adıyaman)

• Yaşar Hamurcu (Retired journalist – Adıyaman)

• Mehmet Ünsal (Güne Bakış, layout – Adıyaman)

• Aynur Göksu (Güne Bakış, editor – Adıyaman)

• Zafer İnli (Hatay Söz – Hatay)

• Ayhan Gümüşsoy (Haykırış Gazetesi / Beyzade FM-TV – Hatay)

• Rafi Sümbültepe (President of Arsuz Journalists’ Association – Hatay)

• İsmail Karaoğlan (Antakya Gazetesi, columnist – Hatay)

• İ. Barış Can Tabakçı (Anadolu Agency – Adıyaman)

• Fatma Erdoğan (Nurdağı Gazetesi, graphic designer – Gaziantep)

This list is not only a record of the journalists who died in the earthquake; it is also a testament to how the right to access news, local witness reporting, and collective memory were buried beneath the rubble. On February 6, journalists lost not only their lives, but also the ability to inform the public. Those who remain are trying to carry on their profession in destroyed cities, under insecure conditions and increasing pressure. What was not recovered from the rubble were not just the bodies—but also the testimony of a collapse that has yet to be fully accounted for.