Turkish president hails country's public housing projects

ISTANBUL

Turkey's president hailed public housing projects in the country at an event Wednesday where he presented the key for the millionth public home to its new owners.

"Through TOKI [the Housing Development Administration of Turkey], we accomplished what no one else in the world could achieve," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the opening ceremony for homes built by Turkey's government-backed housing agency.

"With an investment of approximately 200 billion Turkish liras ($23 billion), we've made our people from all walks of life homeowners," Erdogan added.

TOKI dates its foundation back to 1924, when the country was hit by a powerful earthquake.

Addressing the crowd, Erdogan said: "The 2023 elections are critical for the continuation of these services. I want you to start working now for 2023."

76,000 housing units under construction

Erdogan said that to date, Turkey has built over 1.1 million residences and workplaces and more than 24,000 facilities including stadiums, hospitals, schools, dormitories and sports halls via TOKI.

"We've completed the construction of 12,000 social housing [units] so far. We're still continuing the construction of 76,000 social housing [units]," he said.

In 2019, Erdogan unveiled a project to build 100,000 low-cost homes every year.

"We're starting the process of constructing 100,000 low-cost housing [units] in 81 provinces of our country as part of our 2020 program," he said at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara.

Turkey has a total of 81 provinces

He added that construction of the initial group of buildings will be completed in one to one-a-and-half years after laying their foundations.

The homes, which will be earthquake resistant, will represent the culture of traditional Turkish neighborhoods, said Erdogan, extolling the benefits of home ownership and the program's payment and maturity details.

Late Wednesday, Erdogan also visited the house of Mustafa Urun and his family in Sincan district of Ankara.

Thanking Erdogan, Urun said he bought the house two years ago, after his name was selected through the drawing of lots by TOKI.