Press Coverage
We ask the government not to send us back to the ruins’: Turkish earthquake survivors call on feds to ease path to permanent residency
IRCC says the measures that allowed 2023 earthquake survivors to stay in Canada were intended to be temporary, but many of those from hometowns that were decimated are looking for a 'fair' and 'reasonable' pathway to continue the lives they've built in this country. News by IREM KOCA
Read Full ArticlePublished: January 23, 2026
Recovery and reconstruction will take years to complete.
On Monday 6 February 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit south-east Türkiye, close to the town of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border. Several hours later another 7.5 magnitude quake hit nearby. More than 50,000 people died in a disaster of unprecedented scale and scope, with a volume of debris estimated to amount to 100 million cubic meters in Türkiye alone.
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 11, 2025
What is the situation today in Türkiye?
In Türkiye, 37,066 buildings collapsed, and over 200,000 buildings were heavily damaged. Rebuilding and recovery will take years, even with the support of the international community. Hundreds and thousands of people, including children, are living in tents and makeshift shelters with limited access to basic necessities and services, and many have lost their source of income.
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 11, 2025
Still in ruins: the 2023 Turkish earthquake – then and now
Over 65 nightmarish seconds of the pre-dawn hours of 6 February 2023, the ground swallowed swathes of entire cities across south-east Turkey resulting in more than 50,000 deaths. Bridges collapsed, roads and airport tarmacs cracked and millions of lives across 11 Turkish provinces were upturned by the time the rest of the country woke up, stunned.
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 11, 2025
Turkey earthquake: Before and after pictures show extent of destruction
The first earthquake was followed by numerous aftershocks, including one quake which was almost as large as the first - registering as magnitude 7.5 - about nine hours later with its epicentre about 60 miles (100km) further north in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province.
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 11, 2025
Turkey earthquake: The survivors' choice - danger inside or freezing outside
"My daughter never liked the cold, oh God. She is under the earth. My heart is burning"
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 11, 2025
Almost all of Turkey is really seismically active
The quake occurred in a seismically active area known as the East Anatolian fault zone, which has produced damaging earthquakes in the past. "Almost all of Turkey is really seismically active," Sandvol said. "This is not something new to the country." Turkey was struck by another major earthquake in January 2020 — a magnitude 6.7 that caused significant damage in the eastern part of the country. In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude quake struck near Istanbul and killed an estimated 18,000 people
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 11, 2025
Turkish earthquake victims call on the feds to clear a path for immigration
Canada's special immigration measures for Turkish earthquake victims provided immediate relief for those fleeing the 2023 disaster, but advocates say ineligibility for benefits like health care and education, and a lack of a plan from the Canadian government, has left hundreds wondering where to turn.
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 11, 2025
Turkish diaspora calls on immigration minister to fast-track visas, family reunification for earthquake survivors
Yusuf Celik, a New Brunswick resident on a two-week compassionate leave in his native Turkey, said that non-governmental relief workers he has spoken with on the ground believe the death toll from recent back-to-back earthquakes there 'will be at least 100,000 people.'
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 11, 2025
Powerful Quake Strikes Turkey and Syria, Killing More Than 4,300
ISTANBUL — A powerful earthquake struck Turkey and Syria before dawn on Monday, killing more than 4,300 people, destroying thousands of buildings and shattering lives in a region already rocked by war, a refugee crisis and economic distress. The toll of the dead and injured appeared certain to rise as rescue crews battled rain and snow to find survivors and dig bodies out of the ruins, while families fearing aftershocks desperately tried to find shelter in cars, tents, factories and schools. The quake, the strongest recorded in Turkey since 1939, reached a magnitude of 7.8, according to the United States Geological Survey, and was also felt in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon. An aftershock measuring 7.5 shook the area again Monday afternoon, complicating rescue efforts and terrifying millions of people living in the quake zone. In the city of Adana, Turkey, Fatih Kaya stood across the street from what had been the 16-story tower where his brother’s family lived. Now the building had collapsed into a giant mound of rubble that rescue workers were digging through in search of survivors. “I am waiting to see if my brother and his wife will be taken out,” said Mr. Kaya, 31. The bodies of his brother’s two children had already been found. “I don’t know what else to do in this moment,” he said.
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 09, 2025
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Earthquake kills 60,000 in Turkey and Syria
Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/6b619fad-ea29-4845-806f-3ee635cc97e3 Turkey’s strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan faced a rare public rebuke over his government’s response to one of the deadliest earthquakes of the 21st century, which ravaged swaths of the country’s south on February 6. The quake, which killed nearly 51,000 people in Turkey and about 9,000 in northern Syria, struck just months before a pivotal election. But while civil engineers blamed shoddy construction practices and lacklustre building code enforcement for the vast scale of the destruction, Erdoğan ultimately clinched victory after his government unleashed a flood of stimulus measures.
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 09, 2025
‘Catastrophic’: thousands dead as earthquake hits Turkey and Syria
Front Page: ‘Catastrophic’: thousands dead as earthquake hits Turkey and Syria International rescue missions were rushing to Turkey and Syria yesterday after the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in at least a century left more than 3,500 people dead, thousands injured and an unknown number trapped in the rubble. The...
Read Full ArticlePublished: December 09, 2025