This is what happened after the massive earthquake in Turkey a year ago. A country is going crazy with enthusiasm – and these fans are unique

Nearly a year after the devastating earthquakes in Turkey that left tens of thousands dead, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the worst-hit province of Hatay.

“We still feel the pain of the lives we lost in the earthquake,” Erdoğan said on Saturday during a ceremony in which he handed over newly built residential buildings to people whose houses collapsed during the quake.

Erdoğan said the Turkish government wants to transfer 200,000 of the 390,000 planned housing units by the end of the year. About 75,000 of these are expected to be completed within the next two months. In the southeastern region of Turkey, more than 690,000 people still live in makeshift containers. According to the government, clean-up efforts after the earthquake are still ongoing in some areas.

More than 60,000 dead

On February 6, 2023, two earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 struck southeastern Turkey and parts of Syria. About 60,000 people died, most of them in Turkey. Exact information about the victims of the civil war in Syria is difficult to determine. About 6,800 people have been killed in the earthquakes across Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Erdoğan and his government initially received harsh criticism after the earthquake. For example, they were accused of errors in crisis management. The focus also shifted to so-called black buildings that were built illegally and later legalized by the government.

(dsc/sda/dpa)