Hatay

More than 8,000 truckloads of debris are being carried every day in the quake-hit province of Hatay's Antakya and Defne district, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has stated.

Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos will visit Türkiye upon the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar.

Akar and Panagiotopoulos will visit the quake-hit southern Hatay province on April 4. The two ministers will also have a bilateral meeting.

Türkiye is grappling with extreme weather emergencies as torrential rains once again cause floods in the southern quake-hit province of Hatay's Iskenderun district, while heavy snowfall forces schools to close in nine out of all 81 provinces in the country.

A total of 140 dams were inspected in the earthquake zone and no situation requiring urgent intervention has been found as there was no serious damage, The General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) stated.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated on March 27 that they will complete the permanent residences in the earthquake region within a year and build 14,600 small industrial shops and deliver them to the tradesmen, craftsmen and operators in quake-hit regions.

In the southern province of Hatay, which experienced massive destruction in the Feb. 6 earthquakes, construction works have been accelerated so that earthquake survivors could settle into prefabricated temporary housing for the Ramadan Feast.

About 60,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland after the Feb. 6 earthquakes devastated their homes in Türkiye, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on March 27.

"Around 60,000 Syrians living in Türkiye have returned to their own land due to the loss of their homes and relatives," Akar said speaking at a military bordar post in the southern Hatay province.

The 1935 model Cadillac automobile, used by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Türkiye, and exhibited in Anıtkabir for years, has been restored after five years of work.

Expert teams from the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums have recovered 288 artifacts from many historical and cultural buildings that were destroyed in the earthquakes.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 24 promised to heal the wounds of the victims of powerful earthquakes that hit Türkiye's southern region and claimed more than 50,000 lives.

"Together we will remove the traces of this disaster," Erdoğan said at a ceremony in quake-hit Hatay province.