Key points a month after the Turkey earthquake

A massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck large swathes of Turkey and parts of Syria on February 6, killing more than 50,000 people in both countries.

The World Health Organization said it was “the worst natural disaster in the European region in a century.

One month later, Turkey faces the daunting task of rebuilding devastated cities, where tens of thousands are buried and many survivors barely living in tents or containers.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Saturday that the death toll in the country as a result of the earthquake rose to 45,968, along with 4,267 Syrian refugees who fled the civil war in their country. Thousands more have died in Syria.

The earthquake hit 11 Turkish provinces at 4:17 am local time as people slept in houses not built to withstand the strong tremors.

Turkish officials said 214,000 buildings collapsed in the aftermath of the quake, many of them in Hatay and Kahramanmaras.

Teams of workers are still struggling to clear the rubble that now dominates quake-stricken cities.

About 14 million people were affected by the disaster – a sixth of the country’s population.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that 3.3 million people have so far been forced to leave the quake zone. More than 1.4 million people have been resettled in tents and about 46,000 in container cities, while the rest are housed in dormitories and guesthouses, according to official figures.

There was growing frustration with the government over its handling of the disaster. Erdogan blamed the harsh winter conditions, which covered main roads in ice and snow and damaged roads and airports inoperable.

In some provinces, including Adiyaman, anger at the state remains strong. Survivors told AFP they were left to rescue loved ones trapped under the rubble with their bare hands as there were no rescue teams, soldiers or police for days after the quake.

Some of the survivors recounted witnessing the killing of their relatives because they were unable to pull them out from under the rubble due to the lack of equipment needed to excavate the concrete slabs.

Erdogan acknowledged “shortcomings” and asked for “forgiveness” after criticism of his government’s response.

“It is not possible for us to be prepared for such a disaster,” he said during a visit to the quake zone.

The media and opposition politicians blamed government institutions including the Disaster Management Agency for their slow response.

The Red Crescent Society and its president, Karim Kenik, were reprimanded for selling the tents to people displaced by the earthquake instead of donating them.

So far, no government official has claimed responsibility for the response and no one has resigned.

Contractors have been blamed for lax standards that have allowed many buildings to crumble like pancakes.

The authorities detained more than 200 people, including building contractors, as part of an extensive investigation. Turkish media showed that some contractors were being held at Istanbul airport while trying to flee the country.

Already suffering from high inflation and a weak currency, Turkey must now absorb the economic damage from the earthquake, estimated at more than $34 billion by the World Bank.

The bank said the amount is equivalent to four percent of the country’s gross domestic product for 2021, and does not account for reconstruction costs, which could be “twice” the size.

With the elections only a few months away, Erdogan promised new homes for the affected millions within a year.

The Turkish leader has relied on the country’s construction sector over his two decades in power, boasting of a modernization drive that has built roads, bridges and tunnels.

According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, post-earthquake rebuilding efforts could yield economic gains.

“Increased production from reconstruction activities may largely offset the negative impact of disruption to economic activity,” the bank said.

Erdogan said this week that the legislative and presidential elections will be held as planned on May 14 despite the earthquake.

Last month, the president declared a three-month state of emergency across the quake zone, prompting rumors that the vote might be delayed. It remains unclear how voting security will be restored and the displaced people will be able to cast their ballots.

The election appears to be the most important for Erdogan, in power first as prime minister and then president since 2003.

The earthquake delayed the country’s opposition coalition’s announcement of a unity candidate, which is now expected on Monday. The most likely candidate is Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party.

But his candidacy was strongly opposed by the leader of the Nationalist Party in the coalition.

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