Turkey's Minister of Environment and Urban Planning Mehmet Özhaseki on Friday said 7.5 million houses are going to be renewed in 15 years. "Once we renew these houses, people are going to be turning over in bed as if they are listening to a lullaby during the earthquakes no matter what the magnitude is," said Özhaseki in the northwestern Turkish city of Bursa.
18 years passed since the devastating earthquake in the Marmara region of Turkey, the earthquake of magnitude 7.4 which lasted 45 seconds. There is not a single improvement since the last 18 years.
The reinforcement of private buildings in İstanbul has become an issue of urban renewal which will take twenty years. In other words, İstanbul will be ready for an earthquake 20 years later, Nusret Tuna, chairperson of Chamber of Civil Engineers İstanbul branch, had told soL. Scientists had said that an earthquake was to expected within 30 years after the 1999 earthquake.
"Once we change these houses, people are going to be turning over in bed as if they are listening to a lullaby during the earthquakes, no matter what the magnitude is. A law was enacted in 2012, and there was quite a bit of transformation related to that law. But this is not enough for us. I’m especially calling out to the opposition. When the earthquake arrives, it doesn’t matter if you are a member of Party A, Party B or C. When the earthquake arrives, it doesn't matter if you are Turkish, Kurdish, Laz Circassian. It doesn’t matter if you are Sunni or Alevi. The earthquake just takes away lives. Therefore, nobody should think that the Ministry wouldn’t do their job. They should work, make an effort and prepare; then our door is always open to them. Let’s make an effort all together as a country against the earthquake and see the good outcome."
