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

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES BY TURKISH PRESIDENT FROM VISIT TO GAZIANTEP

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye has mobilized all its resources and means to carry out accommodation and subsistence services for earthquake victims since the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes hit its 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 earthquakes to be handed over to their beneficiaries, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at 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 houses 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 earthquakes, he said.

The new buildings will be no taller than three or four stories in addition to the ground floor, Erdogan added.

Over 271,000 personnel, including search and rescue 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 also noted that a total of 300,000 tents were set up and currently, 865,000 of our citizens are settled in tents, and 23,500 citizens are in containers.

Some 376,000 of our citizens stay 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.

President Erdogan later paid a visit to the Nurdag district of Gaziantep province as he met with quake victims and visited container houses built for the victims.

Speaking in a press briefing, Erdogan said: "The number of households that we will start constructing in March as residences and village houses in 11 provinces located in the earthquake zone will be around 270,000."

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

Over 13 million people have been affected by the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes that were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Adiyaman, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.

At least 42,300 people were killed by the back-to-back quakes in southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, according to the latest official figures. Thousands of others were injured.

* Merve Aydogan contributed to this story