Untitled (Soner), 2024
Tobacco from Adıyaman (2023), concrete, pide bread, hand-rolled cigarette, 24 x 24 x 23 cm / Säulen, Rinde am Rhein
The man who was taken out of the rubble in Adıyaman with a cigarette in his mouth and did not throw away the cigarette despite all insistence, did not accept to be taken to the hospital.
"I had my tobacco with me, I was rolling, smoking tobacco when no one came", says Ziya Soner Tuğtekin. The Turkish earthquake victim said that he turned to his cigarette for comfort while he was under the rubble for more than 50 hours.
"I don't know how many days we waited under the rubble. I don't know how this time passed. I had my tobacco with me, I was rolling and smoking tobacco when no one came. When I was pulled out of the rubble, I had the cigarette in my hand, they told me to throw it away. I didn't because I came to life with a cigarette.”
"My wife and daughter were trying to get to me at the time of the earthquake, but the ceiling collapsed on them and my wife and daughter died there", the earthquake survivor Soner claimed on Saturday after spending 56 hours trapped beneath the debris, he resorted to his cigarette for solace.
Adıyaman was one of the areas hit hardest by the earthquakes. Rescue efforts there have been criticised for a lack of urgency. After two weeks under of freezing temperatures the rescue work was stopped.
"I only had tobacco and 1.5 liters of water with me. My lighter ran out of gas because of smoking too much. I solved my fire problem by smashing the batteries of the [TV remote] controller and making a fire by crashing the cables together".
“I had the cigarette in my hand when I was retrieved from the debris, and they instructed me to toss it away. I didn’t since smoking gave me life".
Viral video of Soner Tuğtekin emerging alive with a cigarette in his mouth brought hope to many, but at least 59,259people have been killed, over 125,000injured and more than 13million people were impacted by the earthquakes in southern Türkiye and northern Syria on Feb. 6 2023.
The Turkish name Soner means “the last man/hero/soldier” or, more loosely interpreted “the last born”.
Photos: Philipp Naujoks, Vivienne Trommer, Selma Gültoprak
Installation view: Rinde am Rhein, Group Show – Säulen