Turkish President Apologizes for Earthquake Response, Pledges To Rebuild

President Erdoğan promises to construct thousands of homes for those affected by southern Turkey's February 6 earthquakes

(Nurdağı, Turkey) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday asked for forgiveness from the people of Hatay for the shortcomings in the initial response to the massive earthquakes that struck southern Turkey on February 6. During a speech in Hatay state in front of a group of those affected by the earthquake, Erdoğan said, “We ask the people of Hatay to forgive us for the shortcomings that occurred in the first days of the earthquake.”

Erdoğan went on to assure the crowd that the government would not abandon them in their time of need. He announced plans to construct 183,000 residential apartments and 15,000 rural homes in Hatay state. “We will not leave Hatay alone, and we will always stand by our nation and our people,” he said.

The Turkish president also spoke about the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake. “The number of collapsed and vulnerable buildings exceeds 270,000,” he said.

With many left homeless, the immediate need is for new housing. Construction workers are mixing concrete and cutting steel bars for soon-to-be-built new homes for thousands of families that lost theirs in the earthquakes.

“On the third day of the earthquake, we received instruction to build temporary homes. We chose the area and began immediately. We will build health clinics, schools, and playgrounds,” Mustafa, a construction engineer, told The Media Line.

He says thousands of construction crews are working round the clock to erect these temporary communities as fast as possible.

Turkish authorities have broken ground on new housing blocks that will contain nearly 270 units in the heavily damaged town of Nurdağı, in the Gaziantep province of southern Turkey. Trucks and heavy equipment are already carrying cement, steel, and other building material, and removing dirt and debris as construction of more than 200,000 homes across the earthquake zone is underway.

Nearly 90,000 people are living in tents, university dormitories, and containers.

Shelter is the biggest need now for those who survived.

Nurdağı is about 35 miles north of the Syrian border. Much of it was reduced to rubble, and thousands of residents are now housed in government tents or container camps.

A 70-year-old earthquake victim from Gaziantep moved to a camp in Nurdağı with her extended family, surrounded by her daughters-in-law and grandchildren. She told The Media Line that she lost one son in the earthquake. One of her daughters-in-law whispers in her ear to tell us that they are in desperate need of private places to bathe.

“They sent tents. I am afraid to go home. All my loved ones came here from Adana and Gaziantep. Tents are not enough for my all family, we have no opportunities to have a shower, and the toilet is also a problem. But still, we are grateful for everything,” she says.

An international donors’ conference is set to take place in Brussels on March 16 to collect funds to help rebuild the affected areas. The World Bank estimates that the February 6 earthquake did around $35 billion in damage, while the Turkish Business Journal put the cost at nearly $45 billion.

Turkish President Erdoğan has promised to rebuild affected cities within a year. He is facing an election this spring and is already battered by accusations that his government mismanaged rescue efforts and overlooked the enforcement of building standards, causing widespread death and destruction. He said more than 400,000 homes would be built in the quake zone. Despite the great losses and terrible trauma victims have suffered, many Turks are hopeful that they will have a chance to rebuild their lives once again.

“The government has started to build permanent houses. All the protocols were signed. We are going to laying the foundations for 456 permanent houses here very soon. We are expecting 2,000 permanent houses here and I believe that we will do it as soon as possible,” Mahmut Demirtaş, governor of the Mardin province, told The Media Line.

Despite the great losses and terrible trauma victims have suffered, these Turks are hopeful that they will have a chance to rebuild their lives once again.