MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Russia can start supplying construction goods to Turkey in order to rebuild infrastructure and housing in that country ravaged by the earthquake, the Kremlin reported after a phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.
"The Turkish president once again sincerely thanked for the assistance in dealing with the consequences of the earthquake, including the recent deployment of a Russian field hospital in Hatay Province. It was also agreed to study the possibility of arranging shipments of building materials from Russia so as to rebuild the devastated infrastructure and housing," the statement said.
Two powerful 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes rocked Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province, located in the country’s southeast, within nine hours on February 6. The quakes have caused extensive destruction and suffering in eleven Turkish provinces. The tremors, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, were also felt in neighboring countries, of which Syria was the worst affected. The death toll from the devastating earthquakes has exceeded 50,000.
Erdogan previously pledged to have 650,000 buildings erected in the quake-hit areas, and the main construction work is scheduled to be completed within a year.