Turkey

28 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologised on Monday for the delayed official response to the major earthquakes that hit south-east Turkiye earlier this month and killed over 40,000 people.

28 Feb 2023; MEMO: Around 42,000 Syrians in Turkiye have returned to their home country across the border since the 6 February earthquakes centred in Turkiye's southern region, the Turkish National Defence Minister said on Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Speaking in the quake-hit Hatay province, Hulusi Akar rebuffed claims that there has been an influx of Syrian refugees to Turkiye via its southern border, calling them "untrue".

27 Feb 2023; MEMO: At least one person was killed after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake jolted Turkiye's eastern Malatya province on Monday, weeks after two massive tremors shook the region, according to the country's Disaster Management Agency, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Some 69 others were also injured, Yunus Sezer, head of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) told reporters.

27 Feb 2023; MEMO: The two major earthquakes which hit Turkiye on 6 February caused about $34.2 billion in direct physical damage, but total reconstruction and recovery costs facing the country could be twice as high, the World Bank said on Monday, Reuters reports.

ANKARA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed, 69 others were injured after a 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Türkiye on Monday, three weeks after the massive quakes that claimed more than 44,000 lives, the country's disaster agency said.

The earthquake's epicenter was located at the Yesilyurt district of Malatya province, which had already been struck by the powerful tremors on Feb. 6.

A total of 25 buildings that had previously been damaged by the tremors earlier this month collapsed on Monday, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said.

24 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkiye has imposed regulations for earthquake rebuilding work in its region hit by this month's devastating tremors, according to a Presidential decree published in the country's Official Gazette on Friday, Reuters reports.

More than 160,000 buildings, containing 520,000 apartments, collapsed or were severely damaged as a result of earthquakes that killed more than 43,000 people in Turkiye and left millions homeless in cold winter weather.

24 Feb 2023; MEMO: Japan is operating its biggest overseas medical mission in Turkish regions which have been hit hard by two massive earthquakes, a senior official from the country said.

"It is the first time for the Japanese government to set up Type-II hospital which among other capacities can conduct surgical operation and can accept patients for night stay," Takeshi Ishihara, the leader of around 70 medical and paramedical Japanese staff, told Anadolu.

24 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkiye has begun initial work to rebuild homes following this month's devastating earthquakes, a government official said on Friday, as a UN Development Program (UNDP) estimated 1.5 million people have been left homeless, Reuters reports.

More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed, or were severely damaged, in the 6 February earthquakes that killed more than 43,500 people in Turkiye and nearly 6,000 in neighbouring Syria.

24 Feb 2023; MEMO: In a phone call on Friday, the Turkish President thanked his Russian counterpart for his solidarity over the devastating 6 February earthquakes that hit the country's southern region, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan thanked President (Vladimir) Putin for displaying solidarity with Turkiye over the earthquakes," according to the Turkish Presidency.

VAKIFLI, Turkey, Feb 25 (Reuters) - In Turkey's only remaining ethnic Armenian village, Vakifli, the elderly population thank God that not one of them died during the devastating earthquakes that struck the region. But they fear for the future of their cherished home.

Thirty of the village's 40 stone houses, which are single or double storey and surrounded by orange and lemon orchards, are heavily damaged, and since a third huge earthquake hit, the 130 villagers are without power. They gather at the tea house for shelter and warmth.