“The container city is nice, our neighbours are good. But I wish we had more social opportunities,” he says.

Since the Büyükdalyan Container City is new, it has not yet had the social facilities wished for. However, a school is under construction, and it is said that social areas will gradually open.

Another young man says: “Our house and my father’s workplace were destroyed in the earthquake. We travelled to Bursa as a family. We were placed in the guesthouse of an official organisation in İznik, but after a while, we returned to Hatay. We have been in this container city for three months. We are satisfied with this place.”

The container city is full of children’s voices; they run here, giggling. When asked, “How do you spend your time here?” an 11-year-old boy replies, “I ride a bicycle and play games with my friends.” His eyes shine because children look to the future with hope.

DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO TÜRKIYE

Children ride bicycles and play games in the container city

Adults need more time to recover from the earthquake trauma. “Days go by, but we are not well,” says a middle-aged woman. She has tears in her eyes. She continues: “There are still earthquakes, we are afraid. My daughter was under the rubble for 9 hours. Her foot was amputated. We came out of the rubble injured. We were in tents before. Thank God we have been here for three months; we are happy with the container city. Here [it] is clean; they take care of us.”

A younger woman sits at a table in front of the container where she lives. Slowly sipping tea, she tells about her experiences. After the earthquakes, she travelled to Mersin, where her family lived. She stayed there for eight months, which, of course, was not easy. When it was her turn for a container, she returned to Hatay. She is unemployed. She says that drinking water is distributed to the residents.

DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO TÜRKIYE

Drinking water is distributed to the residents

Of course, they want to move to permanent residences as soon as possible, but they are also glad to have a roof over their heads.

215 thousand people live in container cities in Hatay

Hatay Provincial Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD) Director Ali İhsan Körpeş says that 14 million people were affected by the February 2023 earthquakes. According to him, “There are 407 container cities across Türkiye, and 690 thousand people shelter in 215 thousand containers.”

DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO TÜRKIYE

Ambassador with children in the container city

EU solidarity continues

The Head of the European Union Delegation to Türkiye, Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, who visited Hatay in January 2023, reflects: “The EU and its member states have stood by Türkiye since day one. Immediately after the earthquakes, approximately 3 million aid materials, including shelter equipment, were sent to the earthquake area. Tents, beds and relief-housing units equipped with beds were mobilised via the reserves of the rescEU, an extra layer of protection integrated into the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Among other support, an EU Solidarity Fund of €400 million has been mobilised for Türkiye. Temporary accommodation and container cities are among the areas where the fund is used. One year after the earthquakes, our solidarity with Türkiye continues and will continue.”

Stories about EU-Türkiye cooperation