Erdoğan hands over houses to quake victims as anniversary nears

GAZİANTEP

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has marked the approaching first anniversary of devastating earthquakes by attending the handover ceremonies of new homes built for those left homeless in the affected regions.

The president continued his visits on Feb. 4 in Gaziantep. In a ceremony held in the Islahiye district, Erdoğan oversaw the delivery of 10,090 houses to their rightful owners.

"We never let the election agenda get ahead of the earthquake agenda," Erdoğan said in his speech, referring to last year's twin polls.

"We rolled up our sleeves and started working immediately... Our citizens in the earthquake region saw this sincere work closely."

His visit to Hatay, one of the hardest-hit provinces, on the previous day witnessed a promise to deliver 75,000 houses within the next two months, followed by 15,000 houses each subsequent month.

"Hatay is the city that suffered the greatest damage from the earthquake in terms of loss of life and the number of destroyed buildings," stated Erdoğan during his visit. "We have never forgotten and will never forget the picture we saw when we arrived in Hatay on the second day after the earthquake."

Hatay received 7,275 new houses, distributed between provincial and district centers and rural areas.

"We would like to express our gratitude to our citizens who took care of their cities, families, jobs, and lands after the earthquake and did not leave their homes despite the difficult conditions," the president remarked. "This disaster has taught us many lessons, as well as demonstrated that state-nation solidarity is at the highest level."

During the visit, Erdoğan also shared earthquake-related data, revealing that search and rescue efforts had covered nearly 26,000 of the 39,000 destroyed buildings. The region also received 1 million tents, over 215,000 containers and support payments to 349,000 households, he added.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, in a recent update after a year-long hiatus, disclosed figures related to the disaster.
He reported that 53,537 lives were lost in the earthquakes that ravaged 11 southern provinces last year, impacting over 14 million people directly. The disasters resulted in over 107,000 injuries across a vast 120,000 square-kilometer area.

Erdoğan will continue his visits to earthquake-affected regions in the upcoming days, including Kahramanmaraş, Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman and Elazığ.