Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that the damage caused by the earthquake that struck the south of the country at the beginning of last month is estimated at 104 billion dollars, and that no country can fight alone a disaster of this magnitude.

Erdogan said in a speech today, Monday, during his participation via video conference in the donors’ conference held by the European Union to support Turkey in facing the effects of the earthquake: that the number of uninhabitable buildings in 11 states in the earthquake area amounts to 298 thousand buildings.

Erdogan added that the number of deaths from the devastating earthquake in the affected Turkish states exceeded 50,000, including 6,807 foreigners and Syrian refugees.

He stressed that Turkey will rebuild and revive all the cities destroyed by the earthquake with their infrastructure and superstructures and their historical and cultural places, and that his country will continue to provide the necessary facilities for the transfer of humanitarian aid materials coming from other countries to those affected by the earthquake in Syria.

Erdogan praised international solidarity, saying: “We will never forget the solidarity shown by all our friends, the European Union, the United Nations and other international organizations in these difficult days.”

Erdogan pointed out that seismologists say that the Kahramanmaras earthquake is the most violent compared to the earthquakes that occur on land, and that thousands of aftershocks followed the devastating main earthquake, and that it is still continuing in the region.

He stressed that the concerned authorities in his country continue to provide services, food and housing to those affected by the earthquake, despite the unfavorable weather conditions.

Erdogan thanked all countries that expressed their solidarity with Turkey and took the initiative to send humanitarian aid and search and rescue teams to the affected areas.

He explained that the contributions that will be made at the donors’ conference will help Turkey heal the wounds of those affected by the earthquake.

The Turkish president said: “Our goal is to rebuild housing for those affected by the earthquake within one year and provide them with good housing. In the first year we plan to build 319,000 housing units, and in total we will build 650,000 homes in the affected states.”

He added: “We provided humanitarian and medical assistance to about 160 countries and 12 organizations during the period of the Corona outbreak, and we opened our doors to those who were forced to leave Syria and Ukraine due to the wars, stressing in this context his country’s solidarity with those affected by the earthquake in Syria

Source: National Iraqi News Agency