Erdogan vows to reconstruct quake-hit region

1 March 2023

23 Less than a minute

Abone Ol

Airmen from the 436th Aerial Port Squadron load a pallet of cargo onto a C-17 Globemaster III on Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, Feb. 7, 2023. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is mobilizing emergency humanitarian assistance to respond to the devastating impacts following the worst earthquake to hit the region in almost a century. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Marco A. Gomez)

Soon Türkiye will start construction of 309,000 houses throughout earthquake zone, says Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Türkiye’s president on Tuesday pledged to reconstruct the country’s southern region in the wake of powerful earthquakes that struck earlier this month.

“With the completion of debris removal activities, we are starting the reconstruction and revival of our region,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a press briefing in the Kahramanmaras province, where the quakes had their epicenter.

“In a few months, we are starting the construction of 309,000 houses, including village houses, throughout the earthquake zone,” he added.

On Feb. 6, the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes, as well as many in northwestern Syria.

Erdogan reiterated that scientists are calling the disaster an “exceptional natural event.”

“While we are reviving the provinces, districts, and villages in the quake-hit region, we will speedily transform other parts of our country that face the same threat,” he said.

The president also warned the public that aftershock are still continuing and called on them to avoid damaged buildings, adding: “We expect our citizens to be more cautious in this regard.”

Abone Ol