Türkiye has launched a temporary wage support scheme and banned layoffs in 10 cities on Wednesday to protect workers and businesses from the financial impact of the massive earthquakes that hit the south of the country earlier this month.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Feb. 6 killed more than 47,000 people, damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings in Türkiye and Syria and left millions homeless.
In Türkiye, 865,000 people are living in tents and 23,500 in containers, while 376,000 are in student dormitories and public guesthouses outside the earthquake zone, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday.
Under Ankara's new economic relief plan , employers whose workplaces were "heavily or moderately damaged" would benefit from support to partially cover wages of workers whose hours had been cut, the country's Official Gazette said on Wednesday.
A ban on layoffs was also introduced in 10 earthquake-hit provinces covered by a state of emergency.
Six people were killed in the latest earthquake to strike the border region of Türkiye and Syria, authorities said on Tuesday.
It was followed by 90 aftershocks, Türkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said, adding fresh trauma to Antakya residents left homeless by the previous earthquake.
