Türkiye delivered the 455,000th disaster housing unit to earthquake survivors across 11 provinces hit by the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday, calling the effort a “major achievement” few countries could accomplish.

Speaking at a key handover ceremony in the southern province of Hatay, Erdogan said the government had surpassed its year-end target as part of “the largest reconstruction mobilization 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 Feb. 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.

Emphasizing the need for unity to move confidently toward 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.”

Emphasizing 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 neighborliness and brotherhood for centuries to come.

Meanwhile, Turkish Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said in a post on his NSosyal account that the ceremony held in Hatay with the participation Turkish President Erdogan reflected Türkiye’s strong crisis-management capacity and exemplary reconstruction process.

He said the handover of the 455,000th disaster home underscored unity, solidarity and the strong bond of trust between the state and the nation.

AA