Adiyaman

Adiyaman exists because the Euphrates exists, but its current form exists because a fault line exists. The February 2023 earthquakes destroyed or condemned 28.7% of the province's building stock—115,067 structures rendered uninhabitable in seconds. Two years later, 118,204 residents still live in container cities, and the labor force that fled has not returned.

The province exemplifies how disaster compounds pre-existing vulnerability. Before the earthquake, Adiyaman's organized industrial zone specialized in labor-intensive textile exports—precisely the sector that cannot function without workers. "Our biggest problem is still the lack of workforce," the zone president told journalists in 2025. Soaring rents and slow housing distribution create a feedback loop: workers won't return without housing; housing construction requires workers.

International response addresses symptoms. The EBRD provided €95 million for wastewater infrastructure. The WFP targets dairy and vegetable value chains through micro-enterprise grants. These interventions sustain survivors but don't rebuild the economic base. Turkey has spent billion across the earthquake zone and delivered 455,000 housing units nationwide, but opposition figures claim only 30% of pledged reconstruction is complete.

**By 2026**, Adiyaman will test whether state-directed reconstruction can reverse demographic hemorrhage. Officials promise all eligible citizens relocated to permanent housing by end of 2025—a deadline that, if met, would restore the precondition for industrial recovery. If missed, the province risks permanent diminishment: a smaller, poorer Adiyaman that never recovers its pre-disaster economic position. The 4,833 additional housing units planned may determine whether southeastern Turkey's industrial base survives or atrophies.