Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday that his government aims to hand over permanent housing to citizens affected by the earthquake in the south of the country by October to November 2023.
Erdogan vowed to work uninterrupted so that all citizens who lost their homes in the quake have new housing. This came in a speech during his visit to a prefabricated housing city in the southeastern province of Adiyaman, one of 11 provinces affected by the February 6 earthquake disaster.
The Turkish president noted that his government has started handing over the rural houses it has built to those affected as of last Ramadan (March and April agreed), and work is continuing with great momentum to build more of them.
He pointed out that more than 905,112 tents and more than 13,<> prefabricated houses have been erected throughout the earthquake area, as well as ensuring the return of about <>,<> workplaces to commercial activities.
Erdogan also stressed that the government will not abandon citizens who had to go to other states after the earthquake, and stressed that the government has mobilized all capabilities for those affected by the earthquake.
"Of course, we will not be able to return the lives we lost, but God willing, we are determined to compensate for all other losses," he said, stressing that better and more durable homes will be replaced with collapsed and damaged houses and buildings.
On February 6, southern Turkey and northern Syria were hit by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake, followed by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake and thousands of violent aftershocks, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving huge physical destruction.