Turkish president reiterates resolve to rebuild quake-hit region

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday pledged to rebuild the country's southern region, shaken by powerful earthquakes that claimed more than 50,000 lives in early February.

"We will raise our cities in a short time and ensure that our people look to the future with hope," Erdogan said after a dinner with lawmakers and earthquake victims in the capital Ankara, a special iftar fast-breaking meal for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Türkiye plans to construct enough buildings in a year to meet the needs of the quake victims, Erdogan said, adding that 319,000 houses would be built in that period.

"Our citizens whose homes have become unusable are entrusted to us until their permanent residences are delivered to them," he added.

On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 Turkish provinces — Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

Around 14 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.