Türkiye issued regulations for earthquake rebuilding work in the southeastern region as the government focuses on building new homes for the millions who need rehousing after this month’s devastating tremors.

Marking the first significant endeavor, the government announced it started construction on 855 housing units in Gaziantep, one of the 11 provinces affected by what is described as the worst disaster in Türkiye’s modern history.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck on Feb. 6, killing more than 43,500 people in Türkiye and nearly 6,000 in neighbouring Syria, and destroying 164,000 buildings, containing some 520,000 apartments.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has pledged to rebuild homes and the southeastern disaster zone within a year.

Many survivors have either left the southern region or have been settled in tents, container homes and other government-sponsored accommodations.

Erdoğan had said the government would cover the rent of those who leave quake-hit cities. "We will rebuild these buildings within one year and hand them back to citizens," he said.

Around 865,000 people live in tents and 23,500 in container homes, while 376,000 are in student dormitories and public guesthouses outside the earthquake zone, Erdoğan said on Tuesday.

The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) said it estimated that the destruction had left 1.5 million people homeless, with 500,000 new homes needed.

According to a presidential decree published in the country’s Official Gazette on Friday, companies or charities can help build new homes in the region.

Under the new regulations, individuals, institutions and organizations will be able to build residences and workplaces that they can donate to the urbanization ministry, and those properties will then be handed to those in need, the decree said.

First homes

After necessary ground investigations, the state-run Housing Development Administration (TOKI) has initiated the construction of the first homes in districts of Gaziantep province, Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum said Friday.

"Our entire effort is focused on returning our citizens to their homes as soon as possible. We are starting work immediately in areas where we have signed contracts and completed ground surveys," Kurum wrote on Twitter.

"We have broken ground for the 855 housing units that we will build in the first stage in Nurdağı and Islahiye with the hand of TOKI."

Over the past two decades, TOKI built around 1 million quake-resilient houses, while the private sector built slightly more than 2 million homes during the same period, Kurum said earlier.

He said last week the government would consider detailed geological surveys in its city reconstruction plans and that tenders would be held.

"For several projects, tenders and contracts have been done. The process is moving very fast," a government official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding there would be no compromise on safety.

The initial plan is to build 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses at the cost of at least $15 billion, he said.

The bill to rebuild houses, transmission lines, and infrastructure could be around $25 billion, Wall Street bank JPMorgan said in a report. Another report from the business association TÜRKONFED estimated damages to housing at $70.8 billion.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Thursday said more than 600,000 apartments and 150,000 commercial premises had suffered at least moderate damage.

"Our cities will be built in the right places; our children will live in stronger cities. We know what kind of test we are facing, and we will come out of this stronger," he told state broadcaster TRT Haber.

The UNDP said it had requested $113.5 million from the $1 billion in funds appealed for by the United Nations last week, adding that it would focus this money on clearing away mountains of rubble.

The UNDP estimates that the disaster had produced between 116 million and 210 million tons of rubble, compared with 13 million tons of rubble after the earthquake in northwest Türkiye in 1999.

Investigation widens

Separately, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said 171 people had been arrested and 77 more faced detention as part of an investigation into collapsed buildings in the earthquake area related to violations of building codes.

"Everyone involved will be held accountable in front of courts. Everyone will be punished according to their responsibility," Bozdağ told private broadcaster CNN Türk late Thursday.

He said legal changes could be needed for crimes regarding construction permits and said the authorities should discuss more brutal punishments and deterrents for violating zoning rules, which dictate where and how buildings can be more safely built.

Soylu also said authorities were widening an investigation into contractors suspected of violating safety standards and multiplying the scale of devastation.

He said 564 suspects had been identified, and many more were still under investigation.

In Antakya, Hatay, Saeed Sleiman Ertoğlu, 56, loaded up what remained of his stock from his waterpipe shop that was not damaged in the two massive earthquakes on Feb. 6, followed by another strong quake two weeks later.

"The glassware was stunning, more than usual, but then we had this (earthquake), and it all got ruined," he told Reuters after his home and shop survived the first tremors but not the latter. However, he estimated that 5% of his merchandise survived.

"What can we do? This is an act of God, and God will always bear gifts," he said.