Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the delivery ceremony for houses that were built for earthquake victims in Hatay.
Erdoğan laid out the following keynotes in his remarkable speech:
"The pain of the lives lost in the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquake about a year ago continues to deeply affect us with the same freshness as on the first day. I extend my condolences to the families and the nation for the more than 53,000 citizens we lost in the earthquake. I also wish a speedy recovery to the more than 107,000 citizens injured in this disaster.
The earthquake caused severe destruction in 11 provinces, 124 districts, and nearly 7,000 villages and neighborhoods, directly affecting 14 million citizens. Approximately 26,000 buildings needed search and rescue operations out of the nearly 39,000 collapsed buildings. Additionally, more than 200,000 severely damaged buildings were encountered. One million tents were sent to the earthquake region, over 215,000 containers were set up, rent assistance was provided to 349,000 households, and support payments were made for relocation. Great disasters and great pains are turning points where the unity, solidarity, and strength of nations are tested. Thanks to the solidarity and resilience of our people, we successfully overcame this tragedy and turned the greatest calamity of the century into a century of solidarity.
While the state mobilized all its resources instantly, Türkiye united as one heart and one fist, and our people rushed to the aid of the earthquake victims. A total of 650,000 personnel participated in the intervention efforts in the earthquake zone. Among them, 35,250 search and rescue personnel, including 11,500 foreign team members, and 142,000 security personnel, healthcare workers, miners, foresters, and volunteers deserve our gratitude. Similarly, 20,000 construction machines and vehicles, 141 helicopters, 182 aircraft, and 23 ships contributed to the operations in the region. While 150,000 truckloads of aid materials were sent to the earthquake zone, 20 million food parcels were distributed. Meals were provided to 4 million people daily. In fact, this disaster was also the world's largest search and rescue and recovery operation. We experienced an example where both debris removal and reconstruction efforts were conducted at the fastest pace after a disaster. We express our gratitude to our citizens who did not leave their homes despite the difficulties and took care of their cities, families, jobs, and lands after the earthquake.
As seen, our achievements are not based on deeds built on lies but on actions built on truth. This is just the beginning. Our efforts to rebuild the cities affected by the earthquake will continue uninterrupted. As construction of the 40,000 homes still underway in the region is completed, they will be gradually delivered to the beneficiaries. Hopefully, we will complete the delivery of 75,000 homes in the earthquake zone within two months. Our goal is to bring together 15,000-20,000 homes and village houses with their rightful owners each month in the following period. Thus, by the end of the year, we will have delivered 200,000 homes, fulfilling our promise to complete the construction within a year of laying the foundation.
We will ensure that new settlements are built and all rightful owners regain their homes or workplaces through the construction of new residential areas and on-site transformation in Hatay and other earthquake-stricken cities. What did they say about Defne Hospital? They said it didn't exist. What happened? We built Defne Hospital. Its opening was personally realized by me, my minister, and the entire team. We have never built the truth upon lies. Our citizens can rest assured about this; they can trust their state and us. No one's rights will be left unfulfilled; no one will be left aggrieved. There is no problem we cannot overcome with mutual understanding, patience, effort, and solidarity. We are not only building homes and businesses in the earthquake-stricken cities but also rearranging their squares and main streets in accordance with their historical and cultural structures. Through our Ministry of Interior, we provide 56 billion Turkish lira in grant support to our local administrations to revitalize the infrastructure of these cities. Hopefully, the summer months will pass with a complete infrastructure mobilization in the earthquake-stricken cities.
We aim to turn the devastation caused by the earthquake into an opportunity for our cities to recover and transform into visionary cities. Because we will leave these thousand-year-old lands, our homeland, to our children to live for centuries after us. We will consider ourselves successful to the extent that we can carry our cities to the future as settlements with preserved historical and cultural richness and identity. Every disaster we experience, every attack we face, and every calamity we encounter reminds us of the importance of our national unity and the strength of our state. The greatest achievement of the first century of our Republic was the annexation of Hatay to its homeland. In this Century of Türkiye, we are striving to make every inch of the homeland, including Hatay, a country where we can live safely, peacefully, and prosperously.
Do we have troubles, deficiencies? Of course, we do. But thank God, our determination to reach the great and powerful Türkiye we describe as a single nation, single flag, single homeland, and single state surpasses them all. Our country's potential, opportunity, and strength are sufficient for us to reach this goal. All we need is to tighten our ranks and work together in unity and solidarity. Especially with the breakthroughs of the last 21 years, Türkiye has made significant progress in becoming a regional and global power politically, economically, and militarily. Now, by further developing this, we are in the process of including our country among the world's top 10 strongest countries. As we strive towards our goals, we are determined to eliminate one potential threat after another, including earthquakes, terrorist attacks, and economic traps.
Today, I want to share with you the testament entrusted to our nation by Alev Alatlı, who we buried at the age of 79. The sun does not rise every day to a more perfect world. History is not a linear line from eternity to eternity; it is a periodic transportation. There will be days when the one farthest behind will be ahead. Strengthen your fortifications. Turn difficult times into opportunities. If you must liken our dear country to something, liken it to a wild blackberry bush that sheds from every branch. See that while one branch is sprouting, another is protecting, and yet another is bearing fruit. Do not dwell on a single branch. Get used to looking at the whole. Remember that it cannot be understood with straight intelligence, it does not come to compass or rule, Türkiye has a unique identity. Since we are the last representatives of a civilization that must be preserved for the good of the planet. May God have mercy on her. We attended the funeral prayer. And we got permission from her family. That's why we were delayed. May God have mercy on her, may her place be paradise.
Our thousands of years of civilization will continue until the end of time with God's permission. Especially in Hatay and all over our country, we will continue our struggle in this blessed path with our sweat, labor, and, when necessary, our lives. Neither earthquakes nor terrorism, neither lowlifes who test our borders and patience nor imperialists' dirty ambitions can deter us from this path. Remember, we will walk this path together and reach our goals together. I congratulate once again the citizens who have found homes through the lottery. I wish that the Hatay Training and Research Hospital and the İskenderun State Hospital, whose opening we will perform, will be beneficial to our city. I wish that the upcoming March 31 elections, along with all its districts, will be auspicious for Hatay."
