Experts and Turkish officials gathered in the southeastern Gaziantep province on Friday to discuss plans to build disaster-resistant homes and cities in Türkiye, following last month's deadly earthquakes which claimed at least 47,000 lives.
The National Risk Shield Model meeting took place in Gaziantep, one of the 11 provinces worst hit by powerful back-to-back earthquakes last month, at the local directorate of the country's disaster agency AFAD, with Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum at the helm.
Speaking after the meeting, Kurum said that as part of the model, experts, scientists, and academics are conducting research on post-disaster management, the construction of resilient cities with policies to be adopted in the rebuilding process, and disaster risk management.
Working groups, that include experts and bureaucrats from various fields, were formed in the second meeting.
"We will protect the nature and environment of cities with policies that will be suitable and inductive with history, culture, and demographic structures here. We will make them resistant to climate change, and realize our aims with an understanding that can make them resistant to disasters," said Kurum.
"We will act by preserving the unique structure, identity, architecture, and values of each city," he added.
Meanwhile, a proposal for the formation of a disaster reconstruction fund was adopted by the parliament's Planning and Budget Committee on Thursday.
More than 47,000 people were killed in Türkiye by earthquakes that struck on Feb. 6, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday.
The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes, centered in Kahramanmaras, rocked 11 provinces, including Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Elazığ, and Şanlıurfa.
Around 14 million people in Türkiye have been affected, besides many others in northwestern Syria.
