Turkish president hails 'largest reconstruction mobilisation' as 455,000th disaster home delivered
Recep Tayyip Erdogan says reconstruction efforts have surpassed targets, calling them among the largest recovery drives in the country’s history.
Türkiye delivered the 455,000th disaster housing unit to earthquake survivors across 11 provinces hit by the February 6, 2023 earthquakes, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, calling the effort a “major achievement” few countries could accomplish.
Speaking at a key handover ceremony on Saturday in the southern province of Hatay, Erdogan said the government had surpassed its year-end target as part of “the largest reconstruction mobilisation of the century.”
He said another 105,179 homes, village houses and workplaces will be delivered to earthquake survivors, including 55,681 in Hatay, 22,081 in Kahramanmaras, 11,367 in Malatya, 4,833 in Adiyaman, and smaller numbers across Osmaniye, Elazig, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Kilis, Kayseri, Tunceli and Bingol.
Addressing the crowd after a video presentation, Erdogan said the new homes would open “a brand-new chapter” for earthquake survivors, wishing families well in their new lives.
He said the government had exceeded its year-end target, delivering 455,357 homes and workplaces, and recalled that the February 6, 2023 earthquakes claimed more than 53,000 lives and affected 14 million people across 11 provinces, with economic losses surpassing $150 billion. But, he added, the government never succumbed to despair.
Massive reconstruction efforts
The Turkish president said 200,000 architects, engineers and workers are currently employed at 3,481 construction sites across 174 locations in the affected provinces.
He said 250,000 homes had been handed over in Adiyaman just 40 days earlier, while with the latest deliveries, the number of housing units and workplaces handed over in Hatay alone has reached 153,755.
“We didn’t just build houses; we completely renewed the city’s infrastructure and launched employment-generating projects, including in the defense industry,” he said.
Erdogan said major infrastructure and restoration projects are ongoing in Hatay, including Türkiye’s largest wastewater tunnel and foundation, as well as irrigation and environmental works aimed at eliminating pollution in the Asi River.
Terror-free region
Emphasising the need for unity to move confidently towards a brighter future, Erdogan said: “Together with our citizens, our brothers across our heartland and cultural geography, especially in Syria, Palestine and Iraq, need us.”
He added that following a “terror-free Türkiye,” the country will together reach a terror-free region, saying no one can prevent the building of a “new and great Türkiye.”
Emphasising unity, Erdogan said Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Sunnis and Alawites are one people and the millennia-long inhabitants of these lands, expressing hope that they will continue to live together in peace, harmony, good neighbourliness and brotherhood for centuries to come.