Hatay Province

An architect who survived the powerful twin earthquakes of early February has started an initiative to construct wooden, eco-friendly houses for the quake-hit provinces.

Japan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed an agreement worth 130.6 million Turkish Liras for recycling earthquake debris in Türkiye's southern provinces of Hatay and Kahramanmaraş, which suffered the most damage in the Feb. 6 twin quakes.

It's been exactly six months since the devastating earthquakes jolted Türkiye's south, bringing massive destruction, loss of life and trauma to those left behind, as the country continues intensive infrastructure and construction works to rebuild the cities and bring relief to survivors and heal their wounds.

A total of 39 migrant smugglers have been caught in extensive operations conducted in the provinces of Sakarya and Hatay, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Aug. 1.

Nearly all the workers lost their houses, the accountant and vet disappeared along with their families, but after the deadly earthquakes that devastated Türkiye's Hatay province, "the silk of peace" is helping make new connections.

"I had to convince myself to start up again," admits Emel Duman, rolling between her fingers a small and incredibly fine ball of fibers.

 With the "On-Site Transformation Project," initiated to provide grants and credit support to those who choose to rebuild their structures in the quake-hit provinces, now open to registration, a large influx of applications has been witnessed in a single day.

A family hailing from a foreign country and residing in Mersin province is embroiled in a battle to prove that their child, Bakri Abouras, who was mistakenly registered as deceased during the February earthquakes, is indeed alive.

Wildfires have gripsed forests in threee Turkish provinces; Hatay, Çanakkale and Mersin on July 16.

Aerial response to the fires in Hatay, Mersin and Çanakkale resumed in the morning.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı said, 'we think that the fire in Hatay started because of the cleaning of the garden.' 

In an effort to rebuild the provinces heavily impacted by the recent earthquakes, Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Minister Mehmet Özhaseki has announced plans to construct over 250,000 residences in Hatay.

During a heartwarming graduation ceremony, students graduating from Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Faculty of Medicine have paid their tributes commemorating doctors and other medical students who lost their lives in the deadly Kahramanmaraş-centered quakes.