Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Turkey turns to tents and tourist resorts to house quake homeless

Turkey turns to tents and tourist resorts to house quake homeless

Turkey is grappling with one of the biggest challenges from the earthquake that flattened a swathe of its towns and cities: how to shelter hundreds of thousands of people left homeless in the middle of winter.
Banks of tents are being erected in stadiums and shattered city centres, and Mediterranean and Aegean summer beach resorts outside the quake zone are opening up hotel rooms for evacuees.

With some 6,500 buildings collapsed and countless more damaged, hundreds of thousands of people lack safe housing.

Syrian refugee Bahjat Selo, 62, and his family have camped near their cinderblock, cement and corrugated metal home in Kahramanmaras since the quake caused cracks in its walls.

"It’s too dangerous to be inside. When we go in to get things, we go in like thieves,” he told Reuters.

“We spent four years in a camp - and this is harder. It’s so dark,” he said, his voice cracking and breaking into sobs.

At a tent city set up in a stadium in Kahramanmaras, long lines of bedraggled residents queued up to receive steaming kebabs and dug through bags of donated warm clothing.

Volunteer air worker Fatma Nacar, 25, said she was helping out despite losing her aunt and several nephews to the quake.

"After we buried them, we came here to work as volunteers," she said, adding aid was arriving slowly due to blocked roads.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority calculates that more than 28,000 homeless people have been brought out of the quake zone so far, with nearly 5,000 leaving by road and more than 23,000 by plane.

HOTELS WELCOME SURVIVORS

In the Aegean resort area of Marmaris, the owner of the Cettia Beach Hotel has opened up his hotel for quake survivors.

"My hotel is closed in winter and it was scheduled to be opened by April when the summer season starts. We were renovating the hotel but we will stop and open up the hotel next week," said owner Bulent Bulbuloglu.

The Turkish Hoteliers Federation told Reuters thousands of rooms had been allocated in resorts such as Antalya, Alanya, Marmaris, Fethiye, Bodrum as well as İzmir and Cappadocia.

"Hotels in Antalya welcomed their first guests from the disaster zone by Wednesday morning," said Ulkay Atmaca, head of the Professional Hotel Managers' Association.

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the government was doing all it could to provide temporary accommodation to survivors who wanted to be re-housed.

He told reporters 15,729 people had been accommodated in state guesthouses, student dormitories and hotels, while in Antalya alone, 11,165 evacuees were in hotels.

But with thousands of people still buried under piles of rubble, many survivors appeared unwilling to leave the region despite the freezing weather.

"We have allocated rooms in our hotels but we see that many survivors do not want to come now, because they are still waiting for their family or friends to be rescued from rubble," said Hakan Saatcioglu, Coordinator of Limak International Hotels & Resorts, which operates four hotels in Antalya.

Another problem in the earthquake area is sanitation.

In Antakya, in the central district of Hatay, it was almost impossible to reach a public toilet. In a tent camp near Hatay Stadium outside the city centre and even in a field hospital near partly-damaged Hatay Research Hospital, there were no public or mobile toilets available as of Wednesday night.

The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude quake, Turkey's deadliest since 1999, rose to 16,170 on Thursday.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Hungary's Prime Minister Criticizes NATO's Role in Ukraine
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Hungarian Scientist to Conduct 30 Research Experiments on the International Space Station
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
International Astronaut Team Launched to Space Station
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
Oil Prices Set to Surge After US Strikes Iran
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Hungary Ranked Among the World’s Safest Travel Destinations for 2025
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
×