“We will build 453 thousand housing units and leave not a single citizen without a home or a workplace”

 

Addressing the Commemoration for February 6 Earthquakes, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: “We have already started construction works for all the houses we are planning to build. We will rapidly build the remaining 252 thousand houses and workplaces, and will deliver them to their owners. We will thus have built a total of 453 thousand, almost half a million, housing units by the end of the year, leaving not a single citizen without a home or a workplace.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at an event in Adıyaman to commemorate the second anniversary of the February 6 earthquakes.

“WE HAVE WORKED RESOLUTELY AND PATIENTLY WITHOUT ANY BREAK”

Beginning his remarks by wishing Allah’s mercy upon 53,737 citizens killed in the February 6 earthquakes, President Erdoğan said: “The tremors that took place in our 11 provinces on February 6 profoundly affected not only the citizens in these cities but all of us as the 85 million. Our 14 million citizens were affected by the earthquakes that hit an area larger than the earth area of many countries. Over 2.5 million citizens had to migrate to other cities. The disaster of the century inflicted a heavy cost on our country, 104 billion dollars directly and 150 billion dollars indirectly. Despite this scary picture, which not everyone can easily cope with, we as the nation and the state have never let despair get the better of us. We have worked resolutely and patiently without any break to alleviate the agony in our heart.”

“THE INVESTMENTS WE HAVE MADE IN THE QUAKE ZONE OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS SURPASS 2.6 TRILLION TURKISH LIRAS”

President Erdoğan stated: “Having mobilized all the state resources from the first minute of the earthquakes, we have dispatched 650 thousand personnel from all state institutions to the quake zone. Our search and rescue teams, security forces, medical professionals, workers, engineers, volunteers, and NGOs, who all immediately rushed to the quake zone, became one and united.”

President Erdoğan said: “While even debris removal works take years after disasters even in some developed countries, we have started to build our houses within just a couple of months. Two weeks ago, on January 24, we delivered the keys of the 201 thousandth home to its owner in Malatya. In our 2025 national budget, we already allocated 584 billion Turkish liras. The investments we have made in the quake zone over the past two years surpass 2.6 trillion Turkish liras. We have already started construction works for all the houses we are planning to build. We will rapidly complete the construction of the remaining 252 thousand houses and workplaces, and will deliver them to their owners. We will thus have built a total of 453 thousand, almost half a million, housing units by the end of the year, leaving not a single citizen without a home or a workplace.”

“OUR MINISTRIES AND MUNICIPALITIES HAVE EXERTED EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS TO RESTORE LIFE TO NORMAL IN THE QUAKE ZONE”

“We are entirely renewing the drinking water, sewage, and rainwater lines, which exceed a total length of 11 thousand kilometers, in all of our earthquake-affected regions,” President Erdoğan said. “Let me note that the total length of Türkiye’s border and coastline is nearly 11 thousand kilometers, which is to say that the length of the infrastructure investment we are now making in our quake-hit cities is enough to encircle Türkiye in its entirety. Our Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change as well as other ministries and municipalities have exerted extraordinary efforts to prevent any interruptions in the services offered in the quake zone and restore life to normal.”

President Erdoğan pointed out: “The Ministry of Health has completed the construction of 110 healthcare facilities with a 588-bed capacity at a cost of 42.5 billion Turkish liras in the quake zone. In addition to the healthcare facilities operating in the region, we set up 34 field hospitals and 176 emergency response centers. Also in healthcare, 92 healthcare facilities with a total bed capacity of 5,750 at a cost of 58 billion Turkish liras are currently under construction.”

“OUR STATE WILL CONTINUE TO STAND BY QUAKE-HIT CITIZENS WITH ALL ITS MEANS AND RESOURCES”

“We have launched a mobilization in judiciary, as well, in order to prevent any interruption in judicial services. Nearly 10 thousand personnel, including about a thousand prosecutors and judges, have been assigned to quake-hit cities.  We have included 21 courthouses, 12 correctional facilities, three forensics buildings, one personnel training center, and 82 public housing units in our investment programme for 2025,” President Erdoğan stressed.  

Citing education as one of the areas of critical importance, President Erdoğan stated: “In our 11 provinces in the quake zone, educational activities were taking place in 119,200 classrooms in 11,567 schools. As of today, the number of our classrooms has reached 132,168. 1,259 schools and 9,935 classrooms were destroyed or rendered unusable in the earthquakes. We have completed the construction of 524 schools and 7,500 classrooms so far.”

“It would take hours to name one by one all the works, projects, services and investments we have implemented in Adıyaman and other quake-hit provinces. Let me once again underline that our state has stood by our quake-hit citizens with all its means and resources, and it will continue to do so,” President Erdoğan added.