Erdogan: We Will Build 'Satellite' Cities in Istanbul

The Turkish authorities plan to construct 'satellite' or 'reserve' cities in the European and Asian parts of Istanbul, which will have a total population of 1 million people. This was stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We will create two separate cities in Istanbul, with a combined population of 1 million. They will be built on the outskirts of its two parts, practically modeled as satellite cities," Erdogan said.

According to him, 130 million square meters of land is necessary for the implementation of the project. Erdogan noted that the authorities plan to relocate residents from earthquake-prone areas in central Istanbul to the "suburbs with low earthquake risk." The Turkish leader added that similar 'reserve' cities are also planned to be established in other seismically hazardous regions of the country.