Our priority is to erase the traces of the earthquake: Erdoğan

"Our priority is to erase the traces of the earthquake as soon as possible and revive our cities," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 20 during a visit to earthquake-hit province of Adıyaman.

Erdoğan described their priority as to erase the traces of the earthquake as soon as possible and revive the quake-hit cities, and said: "As you know, we came to Adıyaman just a few days after the earthquake and embraced our citizens. Later on, we came here again. We were in the city yet again during the holy month of Ramadan. During the election campaign as well, we always kept an eye on the earthquake region, including Adıyaman. The ministers, MPs, mayors and local administrators we assigned to the city were always on the ground. They engaged with the problems of every citizen and worked to meet their demands."

Underlining that the state mobilized all the means and resources for quake victims, President Erdoğan added: "Even though there were some shortcomings in the first few days, we, thank Allah, rapidly started to compensate for these shortcomings, heal the wounds of Adıyaman, and rehabilitate the city. We cannot bring back the lives lost; yet, we are determined to make up for all the other losses. I hereby wish Allah's mercy upon all the citizens who lost their lives in Adıyaman and other cities in the February 6 earthquakes, described as the Disaster of the Century."

Assuring that collapsed and damaged houses and buildings would be replaced by better and more resilient ones, President Erdoğan added: "We will work day and night without a break until we keep all our promises."