Tens of thousands of buildings have collapsed like houses of cards since the February 6 earthquake. Turkish authorities have launched 564 investigations targeting developers and contractors, according to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. Already "564 suspects have been identified so far, 160 of them have been imprisoned, 18 are in custody and 175 have been released under judicial control," detailed the minister during an interview Wednesday evening on the public channel TRT.

"We have forbidden all these identified people to leave the territory," he added as anger grows over fraud and the lack of public control of this sector that has driven the Turkish economy for the past 20 years. Tens of thousands of buildings collapsed without giving the slightest chance to their occupants seized in their sleep by the violent tremor of a magnitude of 7.8, which occurred at 4 am.

Destruction to come

The responsibility of some builders, who used poor quality materials or did not meet standards, is denounced in the Turkish media and by engineers and architects. Several developers were arrested in the first days after the earthquake and the government is showing its diligence in dealing with the file. Environment Minister Murat Kurum said Thursday that "1.250 million buildings have been examined in the eleven (affected) provinces."

"164,321 buildings composed of 520,000 independent units (housing, shops) have been destroyed, seriously damaged or will need to be destroyed urgently," he insisted. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced plans to build 270,000 housing units in one year in the devastated provinces. "We make our plans taking into account the cultural fabric, the future of our children and our cities on the safest grounds. (...) We will build the new homes with this design," said Murat Kurum.

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