Turkish president inaugurates new houses for Izmir quake victims

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday inaugurated newly built houses for victims of the 2020 Izmir earthquake.

Addressing the handover ceremony in Izmir, the country's third-largest city, Erdogan said Turkey has the fastest, most effective and most practical disaster response system in the world.

While there are people waiting for help to reach for months in many part of the world, especially in developed countries such as US and European countries, "we (Turkey), on the other hand, can begin search and rescue efforts within minutes, assistance within hours, debris removal activities within days, and build new ones to replace the destroyed before the year is up. We've operated this mechanism in Izmir as well," he added.

Last November, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake rattled Izmir, leaving 115 people dead and injuring over 1,000.

"We promised to start delivering these houses within a year. Today, we keep our promise and are delivering residences and shops to the earthquake victims as part of the first phase," Erdogan said.

A total of 5,074 residences and 353 shops were agreed to be rebuilt after the major earthquake, the president said.