Türkiye heals wounds of quakes through solidarity of the century: Erdogan

Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has visited the region affected by the devastating February 6 earthquakes, delivering new houses to citizens affected by the quakes as the first anniversary of the disaster nears.

“Türkiye is rapidly healing the wounds of the disaster of the century by displaying the solidarity of the century,” Erdogan said, addressing a key handover ceremony of 10,698 post-quake houses in Gaziantep on Sunday.

Remembering with mercy over 53 thousand citizens who lost their lives in the earthquakes, the president stressed that authorities have been working uninterruptedly to rebuild the earthquake zone. Just in Gaziantep, ​​the construction of nearly 14 thousand houses is swiftly continuing.

Erdogan also attended the opening ceremony of Gaziantep City Hospital, where he vowed that Türkiye “will not rest until we fully revive our quake-hit cities with their infrastructure, superstructure, city centres and rural areas.”

On Friday, Erdogan was in Hatay, the hardest hit city by the natural disaster, where the highest number of deaths occurred. In the coming days, he will visit Kahramanmaras, Sanliurfa, Adiyaman, and Elazig to attend key handover ceremonies.

Reviving quake-hit cities

The earthquakes on February 6, 2023, hit 124 districts and 7 thousand villages and neighbourhoods of 11 cities, affecting 14 million people and claiming the lives of over 53 thousand people.

“With the construction of new residential areas and on-site transformation in Hatay and other quake-hit cities, we will provide all the rightful owners with their homes or workplaces,” Erdogan said on Friday, addressing the key handover ceremony of post-quake houses in Hatay.

“Our citizens can rest assured and trust in us and their state on this issue,” he added.

A total of 7,275 post-quake houses were delivered to their owners in the ceremony.

Speaking later at the opening of Hatay Training and Research Hospital and Iskenderun Public Hospital, Erdogan expressed that they were aiming to revive, as soon as possible, all quake-hit cities, Hatay in particular.

“We have deployed virtually the entire capacity of our state to the earthquake zone. Although we encounter various setbacks and difficulties, we never deviate from this goal,” Erdogan said.