On 7 February 2023, two earthquakes of 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude struck south-eastern Türkiye and north-western Syria.

Ten different Turkish cities (Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa) and five Syrian governorates (Aleppo, Idlib, Lattakia, Hamma and extensive Damascus) were directly impacted. The death toll across both countries has surpassed 51,000 and continues to climb. Essential services, including electricity, gas, water, transportation, and communication remain severely damaged in each country. Challenging weather conditions including snowfall and low temperatures have impeded rescue operations and posed additional risks to life.

Türkiye hosts suppliers to all three sectors of ETI company membership; apparel and textile (A&T); food fishing and farming (FF&F); and general merchandise (GM). Our current understanding is that none of our members are sourcing from affected areas in Syria. The regions affected are home to farms, factories, steelworks, mines, and ports supplying international brands and large groups of seasonal agricultural migrant workers who harvest a range of different commodities. The aftermath is likely to prompt mass disruption and migration which will undoubtedly affect all of Türkiye for some time. Business has a role to play in recovery and support to affected workers and communities as part of the response process.

Our expectations for responsible business

We expect ETI members and other responsible businesses sourcing from affected areas to:
Adhere to the ETI Base Code and apply the UNGPs.

The ETI Base Code still applies during humanitarian crises; we expect members to adhere to the ETI Base Code to the greatest extent possible across their supply chains. Equally, the responsibility of business to respect international human rights, undertake due diligence and mitigate risks as set out in the UNGPs, remains. ETI’s HRDD Framework also remains applicable; we expect ETI company members and responsible businesses to use the framework to prevent, manage and mitigate human rights abuses in their own operations and supply chains.

Our response involves supporting our member companies to adopt the following procedures:

1. Assess actual and potential human rights risks

2. Identify leverage, responsibility, and actions to be taken

3. Mitigate risk and remediate workers

4. Monitor, review, report and improve