President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday reiterated the importance of rebuilding the country's southern region in the wake of powerful earthquakes last month that claimed the lives of more than 50,000 people.

"Our aim is to raise up the earthquake zone," Erdoğan said after a dinner with earthquake victims in Istanbul, a special iftar fast-breaking meal for the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.

Türkiye plans to construct enough buildings in a year to meet the needs of the quake victims, Erdoğan said, adding that 319,000 houses would be built in the first year and 650,000 in total.

He also promised to heal the wounds of the victims.

The promise was also stated in the election protocol of the People's Alliance for the May 14 elections.

According to the submitted protocol, the priority is to “take necessary measures for risk and disaster management simultaneously against all kinds of disasters" and "to eliminate the deficiencies in legislation and increase technological, human and institutional capacity within this scope."

Since the disaster's first day, all state institutions have flocked to the region, and a comprehensive recovery process has been immediately kicked off.

Reconstruction of the 11 provinces in the country’s earthquake zone was declared a priority following the 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes that leveled nearly 300,000 buildings and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

Over 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes as well as many others in northern Syria.

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