ISTANBUL

The Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes in southern Türkiye took an economic toll of some $250 million, in both direct and indirect costs, the nation’s president said Friday.

"These earthquakes, one of the greatest disasters in our history, had a direct cost to our economy of $104 billion and an indirect cost of $150 billion," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a commemoration event in Osmaniye, southern Türkiye.

But in a sterling example of solidarity, the Turkish state and nation healed the wounds caused by the quakes together, he said, adding, "We showed the world Türkiye’s strength once again."

"They tried to exploit the emotions of our earthquake victims. There is no slander, lie, or disinformation that these 'earthquake tourists' didn't spread," he said, referring to critics of the government’s response to the quake, accusing them of using the quake zone for photo ops but doing nothing to help the survivors.

Erdogan said that in just three years, the government rebuilt and revitalized the cities hit by the quakes.

The government has so far delivered 455,000 houses to survivors in the affected provinces, he said.

The two earthquakes of Feb. 6, 2023, centered in the southern province of Kahramanmaras, caused widespread devastation across 11 provinces in southern Türkiye, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and extensive damage to infrastructure and housing.

According to a report by the Turkish Strategy and Budget Office, Türkiye has spent a total of 3.6 trillion Turkish liras (approximately $91.5 billion) over the last three years to compensate for the damage in the aftermath of the quakes, in particular in Kahramanmaras and Hatay.