Turkey Begins To Rebuild Homes For 1.5 Million Left Homeless By Quakes

More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed tens of thousands in Turkey and neighbouring Syria. 

Around 500,000 new homes required to be rebuilt in Turkey, says United Nations Development Programme

Antakya/Ankara, Turkey: Turkey has begun work to rebuild homes following this month's devastating earthquakes, a government official said on Friday, as the combined death count in Turkey and Syria surpassed 50,000.

More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed tens of thousands in Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) announced the death count in Turkey due to earthquakes rose to 44,218 on Friday night.

With Syria's latest announced death count of 5,914, the combined death count in the two countries rose to above 50,000.

Facing an election within months, President Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild homes within a year, although experts have said the authorities should put safety before speed. Some buildings that were meant to withstand tremors crumbled in the latest earthquakes.

"For several projects, tenders and contracts have been done. The process is moving very fast," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding there would be no compromise on safety.

Authorities say tents have been dispatched for the many who are homeless, but people have reported trouble accessing them.

"I have eight children. We are living in a tent. There is water on top (of the tent) and the ground is damp. We are asking for more tents and they don't give them to us," Melek, 67, who was waiting in a line to collect aid outside a high school in the town of Hassa.

The school was being used as an aid distribution center by a group of volunteers called Interrail Turkey. One volunteer, Sumeyye Karabocek, said the shortage of tents remained the biggest problem.

HALF A MILLION NEW HOMES NEEDED

Erdogan's government has endured a wave of criticism over both its response to the devastation and what many Turks say were years of non-enforcement of construction quality control.

The Turkish government's initial plan now is to build 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses at a cost of at least $15 billion, he said. U.S. bank JPMorgan had estimated rebuilding houses and infrastructure will cost $25 billion.

The UNDP said it estimated that the destruction has left 1.5 million people homeless, with 500,000 new homes needed.

It said it had requested $113.5 million from the $1 billion in funds appealed for by the United Nations last week, adding that it would focus this money on clearing away mountains of rubble.

The UNDP estimates that the disaster had produced between 116 million and 210 million tons of rubble, compared with 13 million tons of rubble after the earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999.

Turkey also issued new regulations under which companies and charities can build homes and workplaces to donate to the urbanisation ministry for people in need.

Many survivors have left the region of southern Turkey that was hit by the quake or have been settled in tents, container homes and other government-sponsored accommodation.

In Antakya, Saeed Sleiman Ertoglu, 56, loaded up what remained of his stock from his waterpipe shop that was not damaged.

"The glassware was very beautiful, more than usual, but then we had this (earthquake), and it all got ruined," he said, after his home and shop survived the first tremors but not the later one. He estimated that just 5% of his merchandise survived.

"What can we do?," he said. "This is an act of God, and God's will always bears gifts."

Why is Turkey really accusing Sweden of 'supporting terrorists'?

 Turkey could benefit a great deal from Sweden and Finland joining Nato, if it plays its cards right

The sharply increased security concerns of Russia’s neighbours in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine came to a head late last week when Finland and Sweden, following weeks of talks with US and European leaders, signalled that they would soon move to join Nato.

Then on Sunday, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said their applications, which are expected this week, would be fast-tracked by the alliance.

That is assuming Turkey does not stand in the way. “Scandinavian countries are like guesthouses for terrorist organisations,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last Friday in Istanbul. “At this point, it’s impossible for us to be in favour.”

Nato expansion must be unanimous, so with its dissenting vote Ankara, which maintains the bloc’s second-largest army, could essentially cast a veto. This would be a sizeable gift for Moscow, which has vowed to retaliate should Sweden and Finland become members.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly pointed to Nato’s eastward expansion in the late 1990s and early 2000s — adding 10 countries, mainly from the Baltic and Balkans — as the impetus for his Ukraine invasion.

It seems unlikely Turkey would take this a step further and stand in opposition to all of its fellow Nato members

Even as Russia’s military aggression looks set to spur further Nato enlargement, Moscow’s stance remains that the bloc’s encroachment on its borders poses an existential threat and that taking control of Ukraine, or part of it, is needed to ensure its security.

On the weekend, soon after Ukraine’s military forced a Russian retreat from the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, Russia halted electricity exports to Finland, with which it shares an almost 1,400-kilometre border, and warned of a “military-technical” response still to come.

Over the past few months, Turkey’s longtime leader has endeavoured to support Kyiv militarily and maintain friendly ties with his Russian counterpart. It seems unlikely Turkey would now take this a step further and stand in direct opposition to all of its fellow Nato members — though it would not be the first time.

Ever the opportunist, Mr Erdogan is possibly looking to leverage his position to gain concessions.

In his remarks he referred to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency in Turkey’s south-east for decades and is labelled a terror group by the US and EU, as well as Turkey.

Sweden is generally supportive of its Kurdish immigrants and its government backs the US-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Turkey views as an offshoot of the PKK. In November, Kurdish communities in three Swedish cities held events marking 43 years since the birth of the PKK. The gatherings were organised by the KCK, a Kurdish solidarity group that adheres to the ideology of PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan.

Sweden’s relatively friendly stance toward Kurdish separatists is in part an attempt to make up for a past blunder. After then prime minister Olof Palme was assassinated in 1986, authorities quickly blamed the PKK and proceeded to harass, detain and persecute Kurdish groups within Sweden and beyond. Turkey encouraged these efforts with semi-regular leaks in support of the PKK assassination theory, as in 1998 when a captured PKK leader reportedly blamed Ocalan for the killing. As recently as 2014, Sweden threatened to fine a Kurdish football club that expressed public support for Syrian Kurds.

But over the years Swedish prosecutors found the PKK theory less and less likely, and in mid-2020 they essentially cleared the PKK of involvement in Palme’s killing and pointed to a lone, middle-aged graphic designer as the likely assassin.

Readmore:https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2022/05/16/why-is-turkey-really-accusing-sweden-of-supporting-terrorists/

Turkey's President Erdogan unveils plan to return one million Syrian refugees

 Tens of thousands of homes have been built in Idlib province

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday unveiled a plan to return one million Syrian refugees to their country as he tackles an economic crisis and sagging popularity before elections.

Mr Erdogan said people could return to the 100,000 houses in what Turkey calls a “safe zone” in north-west Syria.

“We are now preparing a new project that will enable the voluntary return of one million Syrian brothers and sisters” to areas secured by Turkish and allied forces in northern Syria, Mr Erdogan said in a video message to mark the delivery of homes built by Turkey’s disaster management authority.

Turkey hosts more than four million Syrians who fled the civil war in their country. Turkey is home to the world’s largest refugee population, of which Syrians form the largest single group.

Ankara has spent about $100 billion on housing, medical care and schooling for Syrians who began to arrive weeks after the conflict began in 2011.

Mr Erdogan said more than 57,000 houses for 50,000 families had been built in the Idlib area with the support of Turkish and international NGOs, as well as local councils in Syria.

Turkey has troops in parts of north-west Syria and supports militias and hard-line factions in the area. Mr Erdogan has discussed the importance of creating safe zones in the region to allow those who fled the war to return.

But the government has not yet persuaded Syrians to volunteer to travel to the areas, which reportedly include Azaz, Jarablus, Al Bab, Tal Abyad and Ras Al Ayn.

However, the move is likely to win the government support among voters who are increasingly worried about overcrowded classrooms, increasing wait times at hospitals where refugees are treated free of charge, and other pressures of hosting large numbers of refugees.

Mr Erdogan will seek to cut inroads made by nationalist Umit Ozdag, the 61-year-old leader of the Zafer Party, who has vowed to send millions of refugees home.

Many of Turkey’s houses are around Idlib, the last rebel-held area of Syria. The province, however, is surrounded by Syrian forces with backing from Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies who regularly clash with rebel factions and hard-line groups.

Air strikes have destroyed almost all of the hospitals in the area, as well as other vital infrastructure.

The UN has said Syrian and Russian air strikes and ground operations in Idlib have driven about a million civilians from their homes since December 2019.

After 11 years of war in Syria, hundreds of thousands have been killed, with more than half of the country’s pre-war population of 22 million displaced.

Readmore:https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/syria/2022/05/03/turkeys-president-erdogan-unveils-plan-to-return-1m-syrian-refugees/