Accompanied by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan resumed his visit to disaster zones on Monday, meeting survivors of the Feb. 6 earthquakes in Türkiye’s south. He first paid a visit to the province of Adıyaman’s Gölbaşı district where he spoke with displaced families in tents and containers.
Reiterating that they would like to avoid massive population shifts away from the disaster zone, Erdoğan appealed to locals not to abandon the province, highlighting that the reconstruction work would be completed within one year.
In a speech at the disaster coordination center in Adıyaman, Erdoğan acknowledged that the government was being hindered by adverse weather and road conditions and asked the people of Adıyaman to forgive them. “We are aware of everything and rest assured, we will do everything necessary,” he said. Erdoğan noted that the disaster was one of a kind in the world and since the first major earthquakes, Türkiye recorded some 10,000 aftershocks in earthquake-hit provinces. In Adıyaman alone, more than 6,000 people died, Erdoğan said.
Search and rescue work continued long after the earthquakes, which have seen “miracles” of people being pulled out of the rubble more than a week after the disaster. Crews now work around the clock to remove the rubble. Erdoğan said they sped up both the relief work and rubble removal.
The president noted that 62,500 people were evacuated to other cities following the earthquake and the government facilitated the transportation of those leaving the province on their own. He called upon the people of Adıyaman to “remain” in their hometown once it is rebuilt. “Please never leave your hometown permanently,” he said. “For each house that collapsed, we will build a better one and will give it to you. We will build better villages and better stables for your animals. We are determined to build a brighter future. We just ask you to wait for one year,” Erdoğan said. The public tender process already started in the disaster zone and the construction of mass housing complexes is set to start later this week.
Erdoğan said that they would set up nearly 16,000 containers used as housing units for displaced people in Adıyaman.
On the rebuilding process, Erdoğan said new homes and new buildings will be like those constructed by the country’s housing development authority, which are resistant to strong earthquakes. He said housing development would not be allowed in areas with unstable ground and new housing developments would be built further up “near the outskirts” of mountains around the cities rather than “in the plains.”
The president was later scheduled to visit Malatya, another province hit by the disaster.
