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In the year and a half since two powerful earthquakes hit Turkey, authorities have built and handed over to their owners 76,000 new residences, only a quarter of what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promised to do in a year, the İhlas News Agency (İHA) reported on Friday.
The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes, which struck 11 provinces in Turkey’s south and southeast on February 6, 2023, left more than 53,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands injured or displaced while causing massive devastation.
In April 2023 President Erdoğan announced that his government would build 650,000 new residences for earthquake victims over the course of a year, with 319,000 of those units scheduled to be completed and handed over to their owners by the end of that period.
Many had approached Erdoğan’s remarks with skepticism and found his promise unrealistic since even removing the rubble from the buildings would take months and Turkey’s economic situation and human resources are insufficient to complete such a project in one year.
Murat Kurum, Turkey’s transport and infrastructure minister, on Friday told reporters during a visit to Elazığ, one of the provinces affected by the earthquake, that a total of 76,000 residences have been built in the 11 provinces and handed over to the owners.
The minister added that they aim to complete 200,000 houses by the end of the year, a fraction of the 319,000 houses that President Erdoğan had promised to deliver to earthquake victims within a year.
The minister further said they will build a total of 650,000 houses for the earthquake victims, promising that by the end of 2025, all citizens affected by the earthquake will be provided with new houses.
Media reports show that many earthquake victims still live in tents despite harsh weather conditions and have difficulty accessing basic needs such as clean water.