Hatay will never be alone: Erdoğan

HATAY

Hatay, one of the most ancient and attractive cities of the region severely hit by the devastating earthquakes, will never be left alone, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, repeating that the city, with all its districts, will be revived in one year.

“Today marks my third visit to Hatay, where we follow all the relief works step by step. We are here again with Mr. [Devlet] Bahçeli as the People’s Alliance. And after that, we will continue to stand with Hatay through our visits,” Erdoğan said during his visit to Hatay late on March 12. He was accompanied by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Bahçeli.

The Feb. 6 deadly quakes ripped through Türkiye’s south, with Hatay witnessing the most number of deaths, Erdoğan said, recalling that difficulties in reaching out to the victims were overcome within days after the disaster.

Tents will soon be replaced with 30,000 containers in the city so that the people can live in better conditions until they are settled in their new homes, he added.

“According to current estimations, we have to build a total of 650,000 houses in the earthquake-hit region. We will surely construct them, and we will erase all the traces of this disaster in these provinces,” he noted. The permanent houses will be given to the earthquake victims in one year, Erdoğan added.

Erdoğan and Bahçeli also paid a visit to the container city set up by Qatar. “We are now using the containers Qatar used during the World Cup. They promised us 10,000 containers, and they are being delivered gradually. One thousand has already been sent, and 4,000 containers are in a process of shipment to Türkiye,” he informed.

Erdoğan underlined that the plan is to relocate around 500,000 people in 100,000 containers in two months, stressing, “It is an unprecedented success in the world to be able to complete such a great job in such a short time.”

Erdoğan stressed he wants one year of patience from the earthquake victims so that the government can build strong and new homes in the earthquake-hit region.