ANKARA: Two years after the deadliest and most destructive earthquake in modern Turkish history, hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced, with many still living in temporary housing, as rebuilding efforts lag behind initial targets.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6, 2023, and its aftershocks rattled 11 Turkish provinces and parts of northern Syria, killing more than 55,000 people and injuring more than 107,000.
The disaster reduced entire towns to rubble, including homes, hospitals, and historical landmarks, with Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman hardest hit.
The government has pledged to build 650,000 homes, with President Tayyip Erdogan promising in the weeks after the tremor that 319,000 would be delivered within a year.
“We are fortunate to have delivered 201,431 independent units to their rightful owners less than two years after the earthquake,” Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting on Monday.
Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum said $75 billion had been spent on rebuilding across the quake region.
The critical phases of reconstruction have been completed, he said, adding that housing and business projects were progressing rapidly.
Many residents, however, remain in makeshift conditions, while others have left their home provinces entirely, disrupting communities and livelihoods.
Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition CHP, said only 30 percent of the pledged reconstruction had been completed. The housing completion rate in Hatay, one of the worst-hit provinces, was only 18 percent, he said.
“Only three out of ten who believed in Erdogan now have homes, while the other seven are still in containers or seeking refuge in the homes of relatives,” Ozel said on Tuesday.
“How can they look into the eyes of those they forced to live in containers for two years and say, ‘We have kept all our promises, thank God’?“
Lingering hardships
International and local aid groups say a full recovery remains far off, with thousands of Turks still facing barriers to returning home.
The Hatay Earthquake Victims’ Association said in a report that more than 400,000 people remain in container-home cities, facing poor sanitation, inadequate health care, and an uncertain future.
It also raised concerns about asbestos exposure from unregulated demolitions and land seizures under emergency decrees.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that millions of people in Turkiye and Syria were still struggling to rebuild their lives. It called the pace of reconstruction “far too slow” for such a disaster.
Delays in reconstruction hurt long-term stability and risk depopulation of the region, some aid groups say.
In Hatay, in southernmost Turkiye, empty streets, shuttered businesses, and demolition work still define the city, which was once a bustling mixture of cultures and religions, and a draw for tourism.
Ankara says its response to the earthquake has been effective and on track.
Kurum, the government minister, said 423,000 homes and workplaces will be handed over to survivors by the end of 2025, adding that Turkiye had allocated 584 billion Turkish lira ($19 billion) for recovery efforts.
Two years after quake disaster, Turkiye’s painful recovery continues
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Two years after quake disaster, Turkiye’s painful recovery continues
- The disaster reduced entire towns to rubble, including homes, hospitals, and historical landmarks, with Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman hardest hit.
US lawmakers press Israel to probe strike on reporters in Lebanon
- “The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said
- Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured
WASHINGTON: Several Democratic lawmakers called Thursday for the Israeli and US governments to fully investigate a deadly 2023 attack by the Israeli military on journalists in southern Lebanon.
The October 13, 2023 airstrike killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six other reporters, including two from AFP — video journalist Dylan Collins and photographer Christina Assi, who lost her leg.
“We expect the Israeli government to conduct an investigation that meets the international standards and to hold accountable those people who did this,” Senator Peter Welch told a news conference, with Collins by his side.
The lawmaker from Collins’s home state of Vermont said he had been pushing for answers for two years, first from the administration of Democratic president Joe Biden and now from the Republican White House of Donald Trump.
The Israeli government has “stonewalled at every single turn,” Welch added.
“With the Israeli government, we have been extremely patient, and we have done everything we reasonably can to obtain answers and accountability,” he said.
“The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said, referring to the Israeli military, adding that it has told his office its investigation into the incident is closed.
Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured.
“But I’d also like them to put pressure on their greatest ally in the Middle East, the Israeli government, to bring the perpetrators to account,” he said, echoing the lawmakers who called the attack a “war crime.”
“We’re not letting it go,” Vermont congresswoman Becca Balint said. “It doesn’t matter how long they stonewall us.”
AFP conducted an independent investigation which concluded that two Israeli 120mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area in Israel.
The findings were corroborated by other international probes, including investigations conducted by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.
Unlike Welch’s assertion Thursday that the Israeli probe was over, the IDF told AFP in October that “findings regarding the event have not yet been concluded.”
