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Turkey's earthquakes turned this town into 'nothing.' Can it be saved?

By Kareem Fahim

30 Jul 2023 · 7 min read

informed Summary

  1. The Turkish town of Nurdagi, which was devastated by earthquakes in February, is being rebuilt as part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plan to construct hundreds of thousands of homes across the earthquake zone within a year. This promise has helped to quell public anger over the government's slow response to the earthquakes.

NURDAGI, Turkey - Hasan Kilic still visits what remains of the building where he lost nearly everyone - his wife, his parents, a brother and two of his three sons. He was there in April, still in pain from injuries that had kept him in intensive care for weeks after the earthquakes. He was back last month, his body healed some, but his gaze hollow as he reflected on all that he and this town had suffered.

In what seemed to him like an instant, an estimated 5,000 people in the town and surrounding villages were killed, and "Nurdagi was turned into nothing," Kilic said.

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