Turkey's Armenian community donates 2.5 million liras to earthquake victims

Turkey’s Armenian Community has donated 2.5 million liras to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) for the earthquake victims. The Jewish Community of Turkey sent a team to Hatay province to help the rescue efforts while the Assyrian Community announced that churches in Istanbul collecting aid.

Thursday February 09 2023 12:38 pm

Duvar English

Armenian Foundations Union and Surp Pırgiç Hospital Chair Bedros Şirinoğlu announced that a donation of 2.5 million Turkish liras was deposited into AFAD's account for the victims of earhquakes that struck southeastern Turkey on Feb. 6.

Sharing their condolences on behalf of the community, Şirinoğlu stated that “The community will support search and rescue activities and be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who were damaged by the earthquake," the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Feb. 8.

The Patriarch of the Armenians in Turkey arranged a bus to take 18 members of the community from the quake-hit region to Istanbul, according to reporting by the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.

The Jewish Community of Turkey sent a team to southern province of Hatay to help the victims of the earthquake, according to reporting by the online news outlet Avlaremoz.

Stating that members of the Jewish community in Hatay's Antakya district were also affected by the earthquake, most victims are now accommodated in Istanbul Or-Yom Nursing Home and Elderly Care Center.

Additionally, some synagogues and schools in Istanbul are designated as collection centers for aid, while an online campaign has still been conducted to donate money to AFAD and the Turkish Red Crescent.

The Assyrian Community announced that churches in Istanbul started to collect aid to be transferred to regions affected by the earthquake while also sharing an online donation campaign.

DEPREM BÖLGESİNE YARDIM KAMPANYASI BAŞLATTIK!
Değerli cemaatimiz;
Ülkemiz maalesef büyük bir doğal felaket yaşamaktadır. Depremzedelere yardımcı olmak hem insanlık hem vatandaşlık görevimizdir.
Sizlerden de bu konuda talepler gelmektedir.
— İstanbul Süryani Kadim Vakfı (@KadimVakf) February 7, 2023

On the other hand, The Iskenderun Latin Catholic Church was demolished, and the Orthodox Church and the Arsuz Catholic Church were significantly damaged due to quakes. There is also damage to the Syriac Orthodox Church and Antakya Synagogue, according to reporting by Agos.

The initial earthquake at a magnitude of 7.7 struck the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş's Pazarcık district on Feb. 6 at 4:17 a.m. local time. The second earthquake at a magnitude of 7.6 struck Kahramanmaraş's Elbistan district at 1.24 p.m. local time on the same day.

As of Feb. 9 morning, the death toll from devastating earthquakes has risen to 12,873, more than 62,937 people were injured, and 6,444 buildings collapsed as a result. Turkey has declared a 3-month long state of emergency in 10 provinces hit by quakes.

Topics Turkey Earthquake Armenian community