Mayor Recep Gürkan stated that around 4 thousand earthquake survivors came to Edirne after the earthquake that occurred in Kahramanmaraş and affected 10 provinces, also said: "In addition to the aid trucks sent to the region, 1995 earthquake survivors has been benefiting from İMECE Market and 1005 earthquake survivors applied for City Card to access free public transport. Gürkan also said that the survivors who rent a house in Edirne will not be charged subscription fee, assurance fee, waste water fee and they will use water at 1 TL per cubic metre for 6 months.

Gürkan stated that since the first day of the earthquake, they have been engaged in a great struggle to heal the wounds and added that he travelled to Kahramanmaraş, Elbistan and Hatay in the first week of the earthquake and went to Malatya last Thursday. Mayor Recep Gürkan stated that he visited Malatya, Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman and Adana and they planned the works to be carried out there and said: "As Edirne people and Edirne Municipality, we have been working hard since 07:00 in the morning on the day of the earthquake to see how we can heal the wounds. On the first day of the earthquake, we immediately sent our municipality's search and rescue team and mobile catering vehicle to the region, and when the search and rescue operations were over, these vehicles returned back. However, we sent our mobile catering vehicle to the region again on Thursday last week in line with the need. This vehicle will continue to work there with hot soup, hot soft drinks and various treats. First of all, I would like to thank the people of Edirne. All of our citizens living in Edirne have put everything in their hands, palms and hearts for the earthquake survivors, they have shared and continue to share. With this support, we have sent 24 trucks of aid materials to the region."

Stating that Edirne Municipality also has technical teams in the region, Gürkan also said, "Our civil engineers worked on building damage assessments in Adıyaman and Urfa region in the 2nd week of the earthquake. Again last week, we sent our second team to the earthquake zone upon the request of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation and they are still working. In other words, we continue to share with the people of the region both in terms of personnel and materials."

Stating that the information of all the aids sent from Edirne is shared with AFAD, Gürkan said, "We ensure that the aids reach the region in coordination with AFAD. We continue to receive data on the distribution of earthquake survivors from the region to neighbouring provinces. In this context, we know that around 4,000 earthquake survivors came to our province. All of the earthquake survivors are registered as earthquake survivors at the Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Policies. Some of them rent a house, some of them stay in the dormitories of the Credit Dormitories Institution, and some of them stay with their relatives, spouses and friends. We have an article that we announced last week and will put to vote in the Municipal Assembly on Wednesday. Within the framework of this article, we will not charge water subscription fee and assurance fee from earthquake survivors who rent houses. We will also reduce the cubic metre of water to 1 Turkish Lira for six months. We also opened the İMECE Market within the Edirne İMECE unit, which has been operating for a long time within the scope of aids. The İMECE Market, which was opened in our Atatürk Cultural Centre for earthquake survivors, was organised by our staff and volunteers. İMECE Market, which has many products such as women's clothing, children's clothing, men's clothing, underwear, socks, hygiene materials, etc., earthquake survivors continue to come and shop free of charge according to their own tastes. Since last week, 1995 earthquake survivors have benefited from İMECE Market. Apart from İMECE Market, we had taken another decision in order to ensure the transportation of our earthquake survivors in our city. We decided to give free Kent Card and free balance to our earthquake survivors for 6 months for now and we started the implementation immediately. As of yesterday, 1005 citizens have been given these cards. Last Wednesday, Edirne Municipality City Theatre played the children's play “Gül Güzeli” in order for our earthquake-stricken children to help returning to social life and overcome the earthquake psychology. In addition, psychosocial support activities initiated by our Directorate of Women and Family Services for earthquake-stricken families and children continue and our earthquake survivors benefit from this service. In Zübeyde Hanım Women's Centre, 100 women are producing tracksuits, fleece and berets for our earthquake survivors with the fabrics we bought. Our women at the Turkish Culture Development Centre donated the 15.000 TL they earned from their work for a private company to the families of earthquake survivors."

154 500 Litre Water Tanks Will Be Sent To Adıyaman Gölbaşı

Gürkan said about the aids to be provided within the region under the scope of his investigations that: "There is an intense water problem in the region due to the collapse of the existing infrastructures of the cities. Houses need 500 litre water tanks. Within the framework of my visits, I met with the Mayor of Adıyaman Gölbaşı Municipality on Saturday. They informed us about their water problems and we, as Edirne Municipality, provided 500 litre water tanks. 154 500 litre tanks will be sent to Adıyaman Gölbaşı as of tomorrow. In addition, our work on dry food also will continue. We will be sending a considerable amount of dry food aid to the region within a few days."

Mayor Gürkan stated that Edirne Municipality, one of the 3 municipalities authorised to provide certified First Aid Training, will continue to provide free first aid training. Stating that the demand increased with the earthquake, Gürkan said, "We are starting to give these trainings."