Turkish Government Talangi's Worker Salaries And Intermediate LAYOFFS After The Earthquake

JAKARTA - Turkey launched a temporary wage support scheme and banned layoffs (PHK) in 10 cities on Wednesday, to protect workers and businesses from the financial impact of the earthquake that rocked the country.

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale on February 6 killed more than 47,000 people, destroying or destroying hundreds of thousands of buildings in Turkey and Syria and causing millions of people to lose their homes.

About 865,000 Turkish earthquake victims live in tents and 23,500 people in containers, while 376,000 people live in student dormitories and public homesteads outside the earthquake zone, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

Under Ankara's new economic aid plan, employers whose workplaces are heavily damaged or are benefiting from assistance, to cover some of the workers' salaries whose working hours have been cut, the country's official news sheet said on Wednesday.

The layoff ban was also imposed in 10 earthquake-hit provinces covered by an emergency.

Previously, business groups and economists said this earthquake could cost up to US$100 billion to rebuild housing and infrastructure, reducing economic growth this year by one to two percent.

President Erdogan has promised rapid reconstruction efforts, although experts say this could be a recipe for another disaster if safety measures are sacrificed in a rebuilding effort.