ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Tuesday that over 40,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their country since the recent quakes, denying there has been a fresh influx of Syrians to his country. A disastrous 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Kurdish city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey on February 6, with its impact also ripping through neighbouring Syria. Another quake followed in both countries hours later. Several strong earthquakes as well as thousands of aftershocks have occurred since then. The natural disaster has killed over 50,000 people in both countries. Akar visited the quake-hit province of Hatay on the Syrian border on Tuesday, saying around 42,000 Syrians, who fled their country to Turkey in the last decade due to civil war, have returned to their homes since February 6. He denied claims that a new wave of Syrians have entered Turkey recently. Millions of Syrians fled to Turkey when a civil war between rebels and the Syrian regime erupted following the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. A large number of these refugees lived in Turkey’s quake-hit southern provinces, according to official estimates. Akar elaborated that many Syrians returned to their country because they have lost their relatives or houses in the natural disaster. Adana, Adiyaman (Semsur), Diyarbakir (Amed), Gaziantep(Dilok), Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa (Riha), and Elazig provinces were affected by the tremors. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month promised to construct nearly 200,000 permanent houses in quake-hit provinces, adding that the new buildings will not exceed four stories.
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