Foundation laid during hospital groundbreaking ceremony attended by Erdoğan removed a day later

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On March 24, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the Defne New State Hospital groundbreaking ceremony in the İskenderun district of Hatay, one of the provinces heavily struck by the February 6 earthquakes. State hospitals in the city's İskenderun and Antakya districts had collapsed in the quakes.

During the ceremony, which was broadcast live on television, concrete was poured into the planned construction area of the new hospital. Erdoğan boasted that they would rapidly construct hospitals in the area, with the Defne State Hospital intended to open its doors on May 10, just four days before the dual elections.

Footage showing that no construction work had been carried out where the cement that was poured soon went viral on social media. The area neither was the actual foundation, as this will be reportedly made from steel. After the images and public debate on social media, the cement and hospital sign were removed.

The construction controversy similarly sparked reactions from Turkey's opposition parties. Turhan Çömez, a chief advisor of the opposition party İYİ (Good) Party, commented, "They can't even manage to deceive the public anymore."

During the opening ceremony of a women's center in Bağcılar İstanbul yesterday (March 26), Republican People's Party (CHP) and İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu referred to the incident without mentioning the name of the president.

"In the 21st century, we do not open such an area by simply showing concrete flowing from the end of the pump's pipe, which is connected to poorly welded iron rods. Let's laugh at this, but let's not tolerate it."

Ve AKP ile bunu da gördük. Atılan Temel bugün kaldırıldı.
Dün Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan'ın katılımı ile Hatay Defne Devlet Hastanesi temeli atılmıştı. Temel Bugün Kaldırıldı. pic.twitter.com/JPXxS6uBQA

— Nasuh Bektaş (@nasuhbektas) March 25, 2023

(ME/WM/VK)