UPDATE 2 - Türkiye mobilizes all its resources for 11 quake-hit southern provinces: President

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES BY TURKISH PRESIDENT FROM SEPARATE VISIT TO GAZIANTEP'S ISLAHIYE, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye has mobilized all its resources and means to carry out accommodation and subsistence services for victims of the Feb. 6 earthquakes that hit country's southern provinces, the president said on Tuesday.

Within one year, the country will revive the quake-hit villages and cities, and a total of 70,000 houses will be built in the villages affected by the Kahramanmaras-centered quakes to be handed over to their beneficiaries, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a briefing in the southern Osmaniye province.

Türkiye aims to complete the construction of nearly 200,000 permanent houses and place its citizens in those residences within a year in 11 provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig – all of which were affected by the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 tremblors, he said.

The new buildings will have no more than three or four stories besides the ground floor, Erdogan added.

The death toll from the powerful earthquakes has risen to 42,310, according to the country’s disaster management agency.

- Search, rescue, relief figures

Over 271,000 personnel were sent to the region for all services, including search and rescue efforts and security, since the earthquakes hit the region, he said.

The president shared that a total of 300,000 tents were set up in quake-hit areas, in which 865,000 Turkish citizens are settled, while 23,500 others are residing in containers.

Some 376,000 of Turkish citizens are staying in dormitories affiliated with the National Education Ministry and the Youth and Sports Ministry, he added.

"Over 1.1 million buildings have been inspected in the region. It was determined that 458,000 independent sections of 139,000 buildings are demolished, about to be demolished and severely damaged," Erdogan stressed.

- Gaziantep visit

President Erdogan later paid a visit to the Nurdagi district of Gaziantep province where he met quake victims and saw container homes built for the victims.

Speaking at a press briefing, Erdogan said: "The number of houses that we will start constructing in March in 11 quake-hit provinces will be around 270,000."

"We will rebuild and strengthen Gaziantep while preserving its historical identity and demographic structure," he added.

Erdogan also visited the Islahiye district of Gaziantep and announced signing of the "first contracts for the places where geological and ground analyses have been completed."

"The construction process of a total of 1,797 residences, including 456 in Nurdagi, 399 in Islahiye, 645 in the city center of Kilis, and 287 in Kahta, Adiyaman, begins tomorrow," he said.

*Merve Aydogan contributed to this story