Following the devastating earthquakes that struck southeastern Türkiye, efforts to rebuild the affected region are underway with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan earlier pledging to build almost 200,000 new homes.
Meanwhile, Murat Kurum, minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Thursday provided updates on the reconstruction process, assuring that the local industry has the necessary capacity to provide supplies for the construction.
The minister informed that a comprehensive examination of 1.25 million buildings, comprising 4.51 million independent sections, has been conducted. Out of these, 164,321 buildings, comprising 520,000 independent sections, have been identified as severely damaged and will be demolished immediately or in the near future. This step has been taken to ensure the safety of the public and prevent any potential hazards.
Kurum’s statements came after a meeting at the disaster coordination center in Kilis, one of the 11 provinces that were affected by the earthquakes.
The 7.8 magnitude tremor on Feb. 6 and its aftershocks have killed over 43,500 people in Türkiye and left millions without homes in Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Adana, Gaziantep, Kilis, Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa.
He also said that they will reinspect all buildings in Hatay’s Defne district where another 6.4 earthquakes took place on Feb. 20.
“We will thoroughly review all buildings in the affected areas, including those that have not sustained significant damage,” Kurum said.
“We will assess the impact of the 6.4 and 5.8 magnitude earthquakes on each of these structures, one by one. With the high volume of requests from other regions, we will reassess our determinations accordingly.”
The minister also reiterated President Erdoğan’s announcement regarding plans to build 200,000 houses in earthquake zones. As part of this effort, the government has already signed contracts for 1,797 disaster houses in various locations, including 456 in Gaziantep’s Nurdağı, 399 in Islahiye, 297 in Adıyaman’s Kahta, and 645 in Kilis center. Construction has already begun on these homes, he said.
Additionally, the construction process has begun for 3,107 disaster houses, including 590 in the Sarıçam district of Adana, 600 in Gaziantep, 364 in Hatay’s Altınözü, 501 in Kahramanmaraş’s Afşin, 518 in Pazarcık, and 534 in Şanlıurfa’s Birecik.
Erdoğan earlier on Monday said Türkiye would build almost 200,000 new homes in the country's southeast region.
He promised reconstruction work would begin in March to build 199,739 homes, including over 130,000 in the worst-affected provinces of Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Malatya.
"None of these buildings will be over three or four stories high," he promised after the quake caused several high-rise blocks of flats to collapse.
"The buildings will be constructed... on sturdy ground and using the right methods," Erdoğan vowed.
He said the new homes would be built away from fault lines, "closer to the mountains," which would "protect against problems that are caused by soft soil."
"We will start to move our citizens living in tents and container cities to their sturdy, safe and comfortable homes within a year," Erdoğan added.
Kurum Wednesday also held a meeting to discuss the construction of permanent residences in areas affected by the earthquakes. Representatives from construction material manufacturers across Türkiye were invited to provide their opinions, ideas and suggestions on the construction process.
Kurum assured that the representatives of the construction industry have committed to taking responsibility for material supply and that the government will closely monitor the situation to prevent price increases. "We will never allow price increases and will act swiftly to address any such developments," he stated.
Nihat Özdemir, deputy chairperson of the Board of the Turkish Cement Industrialists' Association, expressed the industry's readiness to meet the demand, stating that factories are operating 24/7 and that there will be no supply issues.
He stated they are ready to meet the 13 million tons of cement needed in the earthquake region.
Turkish Cement Manufacturers Association (TÜRKÇIMENTO) operates 51 integrated and 16 grinding facilities, with 10 factories operating in 11 provinces located within disaster areas. The annual capacity of TÜRKÇIMENTO's 17 integrated factories, which are close enough to supply products to the disaster area – cement is a construction material that can be economically transported over distances of up to 200 kilometers (124.27 miles) – is approximately 37 million tons.
As the ministries were assessing the availability of sufficient materials, representatives of the iron and steel industry also reassured that their capacities were ample. In the Cabinet meeting, it was concluded that the country can produce about 4 million tons of rebar within 3-4 months to renovate the destroyed and damaged buildings in the earthquake region.
Industry representatives affirmed that they have a production capacity of over 20 million tons and pledged to not increase prices during this period.
Meanwhile, Kurum also announced plans to construct houses in villages and handover them over to citizens within one year.
The houses and barns, designed to meet the local sociological structure and life culture, will total approximately 70,000 units for villages and 200,000 for cities.
The minister emphasized that the construction process will begin within two months and will make 270,000 citizens homeowners together with their families.
