Turkey Reveals Cost of Earthquake Damage

Appealing for assistance from abroad, Erdogan saying that no country is capable of handling such a disaster on its own.

The Turkish president made the remarks while addressing an international gathering of aid donors for both Turkey and Syria, which was also severely affected by the disaster. He gave some idea of the massive damage inflicted by the February 6 quakes, saying his country would aim to rebuild some 319,000 homes just over the next year.

“More than 51,000 people became victims of the earthquakes, more than 105,000 were injured. According to preliminary data, the damage from them exceeded $104 billion,” the president told the Brussels-based conference on Monday. “It is not possible for a single nation to tackle a crisis of this scale on its own. We will never forget the solidarity that all our friends... have shown in these difficult days.”

At the same event, European Union Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the body would provide €1 billion [$1.07 billion] to aid Turkey’s rebuilding efforts, and another €108 million [$115 million] for humanitarian aid in Syria, where around 6,000 were killed in the quakes.

The UN Development Program [UNDP] offered a similar estimate for the damage in Turkey, saying the country would have to cobble together at least $103.6 billion to rebuild destroyed homes and infrastructure, or 9% of its 2023 GDP forecast. Other agencies of the UN have appealed for relief money following the disaster, hoping to raise $397 million for Syria and a further $1 billion for Turkey, though the latter project had only reached around 10% of its goal as of March 6, according to UN Resident Coordinator Alvaro Rodriguez. The Syrian fund has raised about half of its target.