Türkiye-Syria Earthquake: Death Toll Surpasses 50,000, Turkish Government Plans To Provide New Homes

Türkiye-Syria Earthquake: Amid the major devastation from the Türkiye and Syria, the death toll surpassed 50,000 on Friday after Türkiye declared more than 44,000 people died.

According to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the death toll in Türkiye due to earthquakes rose to 44,218 on Friday night.

Moreover, Syria’s authority has announced the death toll soared by 5,914, in total both countries rose to above 50,000.

Türkiye Govt. plans to give new homes

Taking notes from the devastation, almost half of a million Turks need new homes. President Recep Tayyip 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.

According to him, the Turkish government’s initial plan now is to build 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses at the cost of at least $15 billion.

U.S. bank JPMorgan had estimated rebuilding houses and infrastructure would cost $25 billion.

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Half of a million people homeless: Türkiye-Syria earthquake

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has estimated that the destruction has left almost 1.5 people homeless, with an urgent need for 5,00,000 new homes.

Further, it said that it has 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.

Moreover, it is estimated that the major disaster caused by the earthquake produced between 116 million and 210 million tons of rubble, compared with 13 million tons of rubble after the earthquake in northwest Türkiye in 1999.

Türkiye’s new policies to help needy

To help the needy, the Turkish government also issued new regulations under which companies and charities can build homes and workplaces to donate to the urbanization ministry.

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