The Turkish government has constructed and delivered approximately 201,000 new homes, less than three-quarters the number that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pledged to complete within a year for the victims of two powerful earthquakes in 2023, leaving many people to continue living in container housing, the ANKA news agency reported.
The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes struck 11 provinces in southern and southeastern Turkey on February 6, 2023, killing 53,725 people, injuring more than 107,000 and leaving millions homeless following the collapse of 518,000 houses, according to official data.
In April 2023 President Erdoğan announced that his government would build 650,000 new residences for earthquake victims over the course of a year, with 319,000 of those units scheduled to be completed and handed over to their owners by the end of that period.
Many had viewed Erdoğan’s remarks with skepticism and found his promise unrealistic since even removing the rubble would take months, and Turkey’s economic situation and human resources were insufficient for completing such a huge project in one year.
“We are fortunate to have delivered 201,431 independent units to their rightful owners less than two years after the earthquake,” Erdoğan said in a speech following a cabinet meeting on Monday, citing a number that accounts for only 63 percent of the houses he promised to build in a year.
In a separate statement Murat Kurum, Turkey’s environment minister, announced that as of January 24, a total of 201,580 residences, village homes and workplaces had been delivered in the earthquake-affected region, with the expectation that this number would rise to 452,983 by the end of the year.
Media reports show that many earthquake victims still live in container housing, struggling with harsh weather and issues like inadequate infrastructure and electricity shortages.
Many of the containers are about 21 square meters, with rooms not much longer or wider than the span of an adult’s arm. They have running water, a shower space and a small toilet. Some people also live in tents or heavily damaged buildings in the earthquake zone.
Concerns about safety in new homes
Meanwhile, Zafer Mutluer from the Chamber of Urban Planners voiced significant concerns about the newly constructed earthquake housing, telling ANKA that there are pressing issues regarding earthquake safety and urban planning in the new settlements.
Mutluer said urban development was proceeding as if the earthquakes had never happened, raising concerns not only for the affected regions but for the country as a whole.
“The earthquake housing did not go through a planned and structured construction process,” he said, emphasizing that the focus was put on contractor-driven expedience rather than on creating sustainable, long-term living environments. He also pointed out concerns about inadequate infrastructure, workplace facilities and social services in these new housing zones.
Mutluer urged authorities to adopt a more holistic planning approach — one that integrates all sectors, from a regional scale to local neighborhoods — to prevent repeating past mistakes.