The duties undertaken by the police organization in turkish public administration during disaster: The case of the february 6 earthquake in Osmaniye

In recent years, Turkey has faced a significant number of natural disasters, the most frequent being earthquakes. Earthquakes carry a high risk of causing fatalities, injuries, and property damage, and they inflict severe harm on society. Since the foundation of the Republic, nearly one hundred and fifty thousand natural disasters have occurred. These disasters have resulted in a considerable number of deaths, with close to 300,000 people losing their lives to date. Law No. 729 on Disasters holds great importance in terms of identifying natural and man-made disasters in the country, as well as implementing the necessary measures and precautions. Public institutions and organizations have intervened in accordance with the articles of this law currently in force. This study addresses all kinds of precautions, preparations, and training that need to be undertaken before disasters occur. It also examines, within a legal framework, the measures to be taken after disasters, while highlighting their areas of implementation. The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze the duties and responsibilities of the Turkish National Police in disaster situations. The earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, known as the "disaster of the century," were used as an example, with an evaluation of the responsibilities assumed by the Turkish National Police illustrated through the case of Osmaniye province. The findings reveal that the vast majority of participants considered the police force's services during crises—including communication, accessibility, support provision, search and rescue, security, and psychological assistance—to be sufficient. Statistically significant and strong positive correlations were identified among these service areas. When demographic variables were examined, gender was found to have no significant effect on service perception, while age showed weak negative correlations with certain service areas. This indicates that as age increases, satisfaction with operational activities in particular tends to decline. The occupational variable generally did not create significant differences in service evaluations, except for search and rescue activities, where professional differences were found to have a statistically significant yet weak impact. Overall, all findings demonstrate that perceptions of the performance of the Osmaniye Provincial Police Department during the disaster were formed within a general framework of satisfaction. Moreover, individuals' positive experiences in one service area were found to influence their evaluations of other areas positively as well.