President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday averred that Turkey will be working towards constructing 200,000 new homes in the southeast area which is stuck with the high-magnitude earthquake two weeks ago.

Erdogan mentioned 118,000 buildings were damaged and worn out dur to the disaster.

He stated that there will be a complete reconstruction of 199,739 homes from March, also covering more than 130,000 homes falling under the purview of areas which have been worst affected, provinces of Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Malatya.

“None of these buildings will be more than three or four storeys high,” he reassured, post the quake devastated the high-rise flats.

“The buildings will be constructed… on sturdy ground and using the right methods,” Erdogan affirmed.

He stated that the fresh construction of homes will be done away from fault lines, “closer to the mountains”, which would in turn “protect against problems that are caused by soft soil”.

“We will start to move our citizens living in tents and container cities to their sturdy, safe and comfortable homes within a year,” Erdogan added.

The state is working simultaneously to offer shelter to 1.6 million people residing in the region. According to Erdogan this report emerged after a visit to the earthquake-struck areas in the Hatay province.

Erdogan said 114,834 people has been rescued from the rubble. Apart from this, nine provinces have been conducted in Hatay and Kahramanmaras.

“We will build a new Antakya, Iskenderun, Arsuz,” the president averred.

The city of Antakya was demolished into rubles and debris which was once a home to an array of civilisations.