BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 23. Houses built as part of the smart village project in the Nurdagi district, located in the Turkish province of Gaziantep, were handed over yesterday to earthquake victims, Murat Kurum, Turkish Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change said in his Twitter account, TurkicWorld reports.

"Today, 76 days after the catastrophe of the century, we are handing over the first rural houses for use," the minister said.

Murat Kurum noted that 319,000 more houses for the victims will be commissioned within the prescribed period.

Yesterday, in Nurdagi, which was severely damaged by the earthquake, a ceremony to commission the first courses for permanent residence for the victims of the earthquake was held with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Reportedly, with the coordination of the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urban Development and Climate Change and the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), 14 houses were built in the Belpinar quarter. The construction of the village mosque has also been completed.

A 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Türkiye on Feb. 6, 2023. The earthquake occurred at a depth of seven kilometers in the Pazarcik region of Kahramanmaras Province. The provinces of Hatay, Gaziantep, Kilis, Osmaniye, Malatya, Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, and Kahramanmaras were subjected to severe destruction.

As a result of the earthquake that hit Türkiye, strong tremors were also felt in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Cyprus.

The death toll of the earthquake in Türkiye reached 50,783.