Turkey's construction industry accounts for about 10% of GDP and the country has an $800 billion economy. Turks are aware that their buildings are not up to code but they've known it since the 1999 earthquake. The president, Regip Thai Erdogan, has blamed fate for the fact that this was such a devastating earthquake. When President Erdogan visited her town yesterday he said to have remarked the disaster was part of fate's plan.
Thousands of buildings collapsed after Turkey’s massive earthquakes. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is facing a backlash for an amnesty program that gave developers retroactive approval for shoddy construction.
This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices