Greeting those who are watching the joint broadcast, Erdoğan stated that two tremendous earthquakes, second one of which struck 9 hours later, in two separate districts of Kahramanmaraş, caused serious destruction in 11 provinces and heart-breaking losses, and wished Allah's mercy upon those who lost their lives in the earthquake, condolences to their relatives, and a speedy recovery to the injured.

Erdoğan said that the state, with all of its institutions, personnel, and resources, and the nation, with all of its citizens mobilized, took immediate action in support of the earthquake victims and that the search and rescue efforts and relief operations, which began with an exceptional struggle, continue despite the severity of the winter conditions and the extent of the area affected by the devastation.

Erdoğan explained that the initial flaws and deficiencies have been substantially resolved in a short period of time and continued:

“The process has been expedited by the efforts of our two hundred and fifty thousand officials and our entire nation. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone with whom we shared the burden of the disaster of the century, including public officials, representatives of civil society, and volunteers. I would like to thank the friendly countries standing with us through search and rescue efforts, today's aid campaign, and condolences and get well soon messages. We will first complete the search and rescue efforts, not leave a single person under the rubble, and carry out the subsistence and accommodation services in a way that will not cause anyone grievances.”

Houses will be built in a year

Erdoğan stated that they immediately began clearing rubble and re-establishing cities, and as of the beginning of March, they will begin building by laying the foundations for 30,000 houses in places where the preliminary work has been finished.

Erdoğan noted: “Within a year, we intend to replace every demolished building with new homes for our people so they can live in peace and safety. Inshallah, we will get over this challenge together.”. (ILKHA)