, will visit #Turkey June 22-26, with scheduled stops in regions affected by the February 2023 earthquakes.){kind=link}
Matteo Patrone, vice president for banking at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), will visit Turkey June 22-26, with scheduled stops in regions affected by the February 2023 earthquakes, the lender announced on Friday.
The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes, which struck 11 provinces in Turkey’s south and southeast, left more than 53,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands injured or displaced, while causing massive devastation.
The trip marks Patrone’s second official visit to Turkey in his current role, following a previous one in July 2024. The EBRD said the visit will focus on engagement with private-sector clients, particularly in areas still recovering from the disaster.
The bank has made private-sector development a central part of its strategy in Turkey, with a special emphasis on supporting reconstruction efforts in the country’s southeast. In response to the 2023 earthquakes, the EBRD launched a €1.5 billion investment program aimed at preserving livelihoods and economic activity in the affected regions. The package includes credit lines, infrastructure projects and targeted support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
“The EBRD places private-sector development at the heart of its mission in Turkey, regarding it as the key driver of sustainable growth, innovation and job creation,” Patrone said ahead of his visit. He added that the bank’s work in the earthquake-hit provinces is “especially vital” to helping businesses rebuild and strengthen local economies.
In 2024 the EBRD invested a record €2.6 billion in Turkey, citing increased interest from the private sector in green projects and reconstruction efforts. Since 2009 the bank has invested more than €22 billion in the country, 92 percent of which has gone to private-sector projects.
Since the February 2023 earthquakes, reconstruction in southeastern Turkey has advanced but remains slow and uneven. As of mid-May 2025 the EBRD committed an additional €195 million to upgrade water and wastewater systems in Adıyaman and Hatay, supporting treatment plants and sewage networks.
Across the region debris clearance and rebuilding continue — with many residents still in temporary housing and cranes working amid raised concerns over the preservation of cultural heritage.
Meanwhile, the Turkish government has delivered roughly 200,000 new homes, though only around 30 percent of the promised units have been completed, and nearly half a million people remain in container cities.