Monument for the victims (amongst the inhabitants of the municipality of Karamürsel)
of the earthquake of 17 August 1999.

This 1999 ‘Kocaeli/Gölcük earthquake’ had a 7.4 magnitude and struck northwestern Turkey on 17 August 1999, at about 3:02am local time. The event lasted for 37 seconds, killing around 17 thousand people and leaving approximately half a million people homeless. Even though official sources state casualties 17,000 people, non-official sources consider the casualties up to 35,000 people.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: Wikipedia & own stay in Central Turkey in those days.