Turkish main opposition deputy leader says new houses to be built again on fault line

Duvar English

The deputy leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Ali Öztün, has said that the land on which the government is planning new houses in the earthquake-stricken Kahramanmaraş’s Dulkadiroğlu district sits directly on the fault line.

“Most of the houses in this village have collapsed. And they (the government) are thinking of building (state-run construction giant) TOKİ houses and a part of the new houses for the earthquake victims on top of this land. This is without reason. They want to build houses once again on the fault line,” Öztünç was quoted as saying by ANKA news agency on March 2.

The CHP deputy leader made the comments as he visited the Çiğli village. He said that several houses in the village had collapsed and roads had cracked.

“The point where we stand is the Çiğli village in Kahramanmaraş’s Dulkadiroğlu. We stand directly on top of the fault line. The fault line has passed through here and the new houses they (the government) plan to build will be close to this region,” he said.

Pointing to the damaged road, Öztünç said: “Here was a straight road but now as you see, it has collapsed.”

Turkey’s southeastern region was struck by two major earthquakes on Feb. 6, one at a magnitude of 7.7 and the other at 7.6. The first one’s epicenter was Kahramanmaraş’s Pazarcık district, whereas the second one’s was the Elbistan district.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last month announced that 200,000 buildings would be erected in one year in the quake-affected provinces.

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