The year 2023 has witnessed all types of natural disasters, from devastating floods in Libya and wildfires in Hawaii to landslides in Vietnam to earthquakes in Türkiye and Morocco.
Yet, the powerful twin earthquakes that struck southeastern Türkiye and parts of northern Syria on Feb. 6 left unprecedented damages, razing dozens of thousands of buildings to the ground and claiming at least 50,000 lives only in Türkiye.
The first 7.7-magnitude earthquake was registered in Kahramanmaraş province and was followed by thousands of minor earthquakes, also called aftershocks in days and weeks to come.
In the wake of the unseen natural disaster, also dubbed as the "disaster of the century," a prompt mobilization of authorities, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), national aid and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the vast international community was observed.
Voicing solidarity with Türkiye, dozens of countries dispatched their first aid teams in the first days of the disaster, while officials including Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a visit to Türkiye soon after the disaster.
The Turkish authorities launched a major rebuilding campaign, pledging to build new housing units in 11 provinces widely affected by the earthquakes.
The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change later on also launched the "On-Site Transformation Project" through which they aimed to swiftly rehabilitate and facilitate the return of disaster victims to their homes by providing on-site support and granting loans.
To address the housing needs of the affected residents, the construction of new housing units continued throughout the year in reserve housing areas, away from the earthquake-prone zones.
Visiting Hatay's Antakya district earlier this week Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Mehmet Özhaseki noted some 1,000 homes were ready and the first homeowners to whom houses would be delivered in the first stage would be picked and delivered within days, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Earlier this month, the ministry also revealed that nearly 10,000 residences were expected to be delivered soon to the citizens in Kahramanmaraş, assuring continuous momentum in the construction efforts.
Meanwhile, major international financial institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), World Bank and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) provided several financing deals to rebuild damaged or destroyed municipal infrastructure and help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) recover in the earthquake zone.