Turkish premier outlines rebuilding plan for SE Turkey

By Kemal Karadag

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday that his government had started the construction of 35,000 new houses in the southeastern part of the country.

Speaking during a City Planning Council meeting in the capital Ankara, Yildirim promised to restore economic and social life in southeastern Turkey.

"We started the construction of 35,000 houses in southeastern Turkey that is burned down by the ditch-digging campaign of the terrorist organization [PKK], and the construction process is moving along rapidly," the premier said.

He said they expected to finish the construction within the year. "The houses will be considerably nicer than the old ones," Yildirim added.

Large urban areas, such as Diyarbakir’s Sur district and Cizre in Sirnak province, have been heavily damaged by PKK attacks.

A series of counterterrorism operations were launched across southeast Turkey in December 2015 following the PKK’s resumption of attacks in July 2015 that ended a two-year “solution process” to end the 30-year conflict.

Since then, over 1,100 people, including over 800 security personnel and over 300 civilians, have lost their lives in PKK attacks. More than 4,000 security personnel and over 2,000 civilians have also been injured.