Tracing the Reconstruction

The four investigations we carried out as part of the Accountability Journalism Initiative (AJI) program were published as a series under the title “Tracing the Reconstruction.”

The Accountability Journalism Initiative (AJI) was a post-disaster investigative reporting and capacity-building program aimed at strengthening transparency and public oversight in Turkey’s earthquake-affected regions.

Launched in the aftermath of the 6 February 2023 earthquakes, AJI responded to urgent accountability gaps that emerged during the reconstruction process. As significant public resources were mobilized for recovery and rebuilding, independent scrutiny of public spending, regulatory decisions, and institutional responsibility became both more difficult and more necessary.

Through AJI, we produced investigative reports examining reconstruction policies, public procurement processes, environmental and urban planning decisions, and the long-term social impacts of disaster governance. The initiative combined field reporting, document analysis, data journalism, and legal review to ensure factual rigor and public interest relevance.

One of our investigations focuses on design flaws in the post-earthquake reconstruction process in Nurdağı, a district of Gaziantep. Our findings show that barns built without regard to local needs have accelerated the withdrawal of residents from livestock farming. Our investigation in Adıyaman reveals that many of the container settlements established after the earthquake were constructed on agricultural land, leading to a significant loss of farmland. Another investigation examines how the needs of people with disabilities were overlooked in Hatay’s post-disaster reconstruction efforts. Finally, our investigation centered on İskenderun analyzes how the ground failures exposed by the earthquake were not adequately taken into account during the rebuilding process.

In addition to publishing investigations, AJI supported local journalists in earthquake-affected provinces through mentoring, editorial guidance, and legal consultation. By strengthening investigative capacity on the ground, the initiative contributed to more sustainable, long-term accountability journalism in regions where independent reporting faced significant pressure.