Turkish government spends 5 bln liras after Van quake

ANKARA - Hürriyet

State housing agency TOKİ has built more than 15,000 houses in Van for sheltering eartquake victims. DHA Photo

The Turkish government has spent around 5 billion Turkish Liras to cover the damage caused by the 2011 Van earthquake, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said, answering a filed petition.

Some 2.3 billion liras of the budget allocated for the earthquake victims was spent by the state-owned Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ) for the houses built, the minister explained, responding to a question from main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Alaattin Yüksel.

The 34 container cities were set up after the 7,2- and 5,6-magnitude earthquakes that took place near Van on Oct. 23 and Nov. 9, 2011, respectively. Those were gradually dismantled as the victims were moved to the 15,343 houses built by TOKİ. However, around 500 families who were living on rent before the earthquake or were not granted a home are still living in the container cities.

Recently, the electricity supply of the families who still live in the container city was cut, triggering the hunger strike.