To meet the housing needs, rental social housing is being introduced in 81 provinces.

26.04.2025 10:42

The Minister of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change, Murat Kurum, stated, "Together with the earthquake-affected region, we hope to launch a major campaign for social housing across all of Turkey by the end of this year. The details will be shared by our President with our nation."

The Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Murat Kurum, stated, "Inshallah, by the end of this year, we will launch a major campaign regarding social housing across Turkey, together with the earthquake zone. The details will be shared by our esteemed President with our nation. In 2025, we will be in Istanbul with all our strength." Kurum made these remarks while answering questions related to the agenda during a live broadcast on TV100. When asked about the division among scientists regarding the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of Silivri in the Sea of Marmara on April 23, Kurum said, "The comments about whether it is a precursor to a major earthquake or not are not very beneficial; Istanbul needs to be made ready for an earthquake."

"80% OF DAMAGES ARE ON THE EUROPEAN SIDE"

Kurum stated that as of last night, more than 40,000 citizens were hosted in parks, national gardens, mosques, schools, and gathering areas, and noted that relevant public institutions and municipalities, especially the Turkish Red Crescent, were distributing refreshments to support the citizens. Sharing data related to the damage assessment studies initiated after the earthquake, Kurum reported that they evaluated all notifications. Minister Kurum said, "We received notifications regarding the damages of 6,539 buildings. Our colleagues inspected these buildings on-site and made their assessments. Of these buildings, 1,473 were found to be undamaged, and 101 were identified as slightly damaged. We ranked the districts where we received the most notifications. Our Bahçelievler district received the most notifications, followed by Esenler, Bağcılar, Zeytinburnu, Avcılar, and Küçükçekmece. This somewhat overlaps with the map we call the Istanbul risk map. When we look at the percentage of damage notifications, 80% are on the European side," he stated.

"WE WILL WORK TOGETHER HAND IN HAND"

Kurum reported that there are 1.5 million risky buildings and 600,000 independent units that need urgent transformation, stating that there are 8 million 70 thousand independent units in Istanbul as of 2025. Regarding how long it will take to transform these residences, Kurum said, "We must fight this battle together. This is not just a job for the Ministry; one side is the Ministry, one side is local government, and one side is our citizens. We will work together hand in hand. Our state has mobilized all its resources for our citizens."

SLIGHTLY DAMAGED BUILDINGS HAVE ALSO BEEN INCLUDED IN THE "HALF IS OURS" CAMPAIGN

Minister Kurum shared the details of the "Half is Ours" campaign, stating, "We will hopefully complete the damage assessments within 2-3 days. I would like to announce that we will include all our citizens whose buildings were slightly damaged in the 6.2 magnitude earthquake in the 'Half is Ours' campaign. Our colleagues will get in touch, and if our citizens consent and request, we will include them in this transformation process together with our Urban Transformation Directorate within this project." Reminding that all teams are acting according to the Disaster Response Plan, Kurum stated that everything is discussed in coordination meetings and that there is a scenario for every situation, saying, "For example, the Northern Marmara Highway is the transportation route to be used during a disaster. The Northern Marmara Highway was built to withstand earthquakes of 7-8 magnitude."

"THERE ARE 5,500 GATHERING AREAS IN ISTANBUL"

Minister Kurum mentioned that after the earthquake, citizens went to national gardens because they felt safe, noting that they built the largest one at Atatürk Airport, recalling that the opposition asked, "What is the need for these national gardens?" He stated that 5,500 gathering areas have been identified in Istanbul, saying, "There is 3.9 square meters of gathering area per person. We will further increase the 3.9 square meters. For example, at Atatürk Airport, we will establish a national garden that can set up tents, serve citizens during disasters, and provide services with toilets, health facilities, care rooms, and a soup kitchen, and we will hopefully complete and open it this year."

THE LARGEST SO FAR

Minister Kurum also spoke about urban transformation efforts, stating that their priority is the earthquake zone. He said, "Inshallah, by the end of this year, we will launch a major campaign regarding social housing across Turkey, together with the earthquake zone. The details will be shared by our esteemed President with our nation. In 2025, we will be in Istanbul with all our strength. Let’s also announce this good news regarding urban transformation in 2025." Murat Kurum continued: "With the new social housing campaigns, we will enable citizens without homes to become homeowners. Our esteemed President has announced this. By the end of the year, we will carry out the largest campaign ever, covering all 81 provinces, for our citizens in all 81 provinces. We are working on this. Young people and retirees without homes will be able to become homeowners. I see young people who became homeowners through the lottery at the age of 19-20 on the streets; how beautiful. We will allocate quotas and provide these opportunities to our citizens." Kurum also mentioned the ongoing housing projects, stating that currently, the construction of 44,000 houses is continuing in Istanbul.

"THIS SOCIAL HOUSING HAS NO CONNECTION TO CHANNEL ISTANBUL"

Regarding the claims about the Kanal Istanbul project related to the Arnavutköy Social Housing Project, Minister Kurum stated: "There is not a single luxury residence among the houses they mentioned. If they can show any, I am confident in myself. We started 28,000 houses there, all of which are social housing. They are reluctant to provide water. The Metropolitan Municipality says, 'I will not provide water to these houses.' We will do it, and they will not provide water. They did not bring a road to the hospital. Officially, they say, 'We cannot provide water here, we cannot connect the sewage.' Whether they connect it or not, whether they provide water or not, we will build those houses as we promised. If they do not do it, we will do it. This social housing has no connection to Kanal Istanbul whatsoever."

"WE ARE EXPROPRIATING THE LANDS BY PAYING THEIR VALUE"

Regarding the claims that Nuri Aslan, the Deputy Mayor of Istanbul, did not attend the meetings held at AFAD, Kurum stated that Aslan was present at the meeting and indicated that they were ready for any kind of cooperation regarding transformation in Istanbul. Kurum also addressed the polemics regarding the reserve area in Hatay Samandağ, saying, "We went together with our mayor, our deputies, and our governor to Samandağ. We conducted the consultation to see what our citizens want and where they want it to be done. We made decisions together. We worked on certain areas within the city for housing in reserve areas, and for those that do not exist, we worked on solid ground. If there is public ownership, we looked at that first. Otherwise, we are obliged to expropriate private lands. We conducted this consultation together with our mayor. There are 2-3 people who have objections to the land we will expropriate. They can object. We are expropriating by paying the value, whatever the price is.

We need to do something for our citizens who are affected by the earthquake and are entitled to compensation. Our scientists also say, 'The solid ground council.' and we are carrying out our expropriation process within that consultation framework. Our Mayor also thanked me. He came and visited us. " he stated. Minister Kurum, who also mentioned the work being done in the earthquake zone, reported that the promises made in the region will be kept. Minister Kurum stated that they have made protocols regarding public lands that are idle in Istanbul and areas allocated to the Ministry of National Defense.