Azernews.Az

By News Centre

Three years after the devastating earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, Türkiye has made significant progress in one of the largest reconstruction efforts in its history, covering 11 provinces. Hundreds of thousands of homes, workplaces and public facilities have been completed as part of the rebuilding process.

According to official data, public spending on reconstruction exceeded 3.6 trillion Turkish lira at 2025 prices, equivalent to nearly $90 billion. The first housing projects were launched just 15 days after the disaster, underscoring the speed of the response. Across the 11 affected provinces, a total of 455,000 independent units have been completed and delivered. Nearly 200,000 people were employed in the reconstruction effort, with housing built at an average pace of 23 units per hour, or roughly 550 per day. The first village houses were handed over to their owners within 45 days.

Economic recovery programs were also introduced to revive industry and employment. Financial support amounting to 23 billion lira was provided to organized industrial zones and industrial estates in earthquake-hit provinces. A total of 936 workplaces were completed in Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep and Malatya, while more than 1,800 new workplaces are planned for construction in 2026.

In the labor market, support mechanisms such as short-time work allowances and cash wage assistance provided nearly 40 billion lira in aid. The number of insured employees, which stood at 1.889 million before the earthquake, rose to 2.004 million by August 2025.

Major investments were made in education infrastructure, with 72 billion lira allocated for the construction of 13,321 classrooms and 6.9 billion lira spent on strengthening 2,776 classrooms. Universities received 5.1 billion lira for reconstruction, reinforcement and campus infrastructure, while an additional 2.4 billion lira was earmarked under the 2026 investment program.

In the healthcare sector, investments totaling 40.8 billion lira led to the completion of 109 healthcare facilities with a combined capacity of 5,123 beds. Public hospital bed capacity increased by 16 percent to 27,503. In addition, 12 emergency hospitals with a total capacity of 2,096 beds were rapidly brought into service.

Regarding transportation infrastructure, authorities announced that 98 percent of the 9,176-kilometer road network remained undamaged. Repair and reinforcement works are ongoing on damaged sections under a program worth 98 billion lira.

In agriculture and livestock farming, breeders who lost animals during the earthquakes received free livestock and beehives financed by a 909 million lira budget. In 2025 alone, total agricultural support payments across the 11 provinces reached 17.4 billion lira.

In the fields of youth, sports and cultural heritage, funding of 2.066 billion lira was allocated for 338 facilities. Inspections were carried out on 5,119 registered cultural assets, revealing that hundreds of structures had collapsed or suffered severe damage. Separate allocations of 1.5 billion lira were planned for both 2025 and 2026 for restoration and reconstruction works.

In Hatay province, the February 6, 2023 earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 claimed 24,147 lives and caused the collapse of more than 90,000 buildings. In the third year since the disaster, aerial images captured by drones were used to compare the scale of destruction with current reconstruction progress. New buildings have risen in Antakya’s Cumhuriyet Square, Rüstem Tümer Pasha Street and Atatürk Street, as well as along the Asi River.

Historic landmarks, including the former parliament building and Habib-i Neccar Mosque—Anatolia’s first mosque—have been restored in line with their original architecture and reopened for use. Kurtuluş Street and the Antakya–Reyhanlı highway at the Demirköprü junction have been reopened, while new residential areas have replaced the former 600 Evler housing complex. The İskenderun coastal strip has also been renewed and strengthened with new social amenities.

Hatay Governor Mustafa Masatlı stated that more than 194,000 independent units in the province have either been completed or are under construction, and that 13,500 social housing projects have been launched. Describing the city’s recovery, Masatlı said Hatay has been “reborn from its ashes, like the phoenix.”