Türkiye’s expats rush to help quake victims

In Istanbul's Uskudar district, volunteers from various countries are queuing outside the municipality to assist in collecting, organising and delivering material aid in quake-hit areas.

Dozens of expats in the Uskudar district alone assist various aid agencies and non-profits, working long hours to help the affected people.
TRTWorld

Dozens of expats in the Uskudar district alone assist various aid agencies and non-profits, working long hours to help the affected people.

Yasin Abdullahi, a US citizen from California, has been living in Türkiye for over a year, pursuing an Islamic course for memorising the Quran. 

Last week, when the earthquake jolted the southern parts of the country in the early morning hours of February 6, Yasin had woken up to a barrage of phone messages from relatives back home asking if he was OK.  

"They were very nervous and scared and asked if I'm OK," he said, recalling the hours in which the news about the earthquake had quickly spread across the world. 

Since then, Abdullahi has been volunteering in the basement of the Uskudar municipality on the Asian shore of Istanbul along with hundreds of young volunteers. Together, they collect, organise and pack aid material – canned food, clothes, blankets, shoes etc – being delivered to the disaster-hit areas. 

"As soon as my friend told me about it, we came here and we're trying to help out as much as we can and for as long as we can," Abudllahi said. 

READ MORE: Turks in US mobilise in large numbers to collect aid for quake victims

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Yasin Abdullahi, 20, has been volunteering at Uskudar since relief work there began.

'Indebted to Türkiye'

Like Abdullahi, dozens of expats in the Uskudar district are assisting various aid agencies and non-profits, working long hours to help those affected by the disaster. 

"I want to go to other locations where I can help and I also want to donate blood,” he says.

Upon entering the municipality’s basketball court, you can see piles of cardboard boxes and stuffed sacks all ready to be transported. A group of around 20 volunteers can be seen putting edible items and clothes into boxes, the latter according to age group and gender. 

The volunteers stand in two rows facing each other and form a long queue. They carry boxes and bags, passing them along the line like a wave until each package lands at the back of the truck destined for the south. 

Since the 7.7 magnitude quake levelled thousands of buildings in 11 provinces of southeastern Türkiye and several areas in Syria, almost the entire world has united to help  Türkiye not just in search-and-rescue operations, but also in material aid. 

From a US-based Pakistani businessman anonymously donating $30m to the country, to persecuted Rohingyas sending 'love gifts', to conflict-torn regions like Kashmir and Palestine, already suffering their own hardships, sending relief, the solidarity has come from dozens of countries and from a diverse array of groups.

Ahmad el Marouk and his father have been volunteering in the Uskudar district since the initial days of the disaster. Residents of San Francisco, the father-son duo moved to Türkiye in 2022, along with their seven family members. 

"We have been here volunteering right from the first day. We are indebted to Türkiye for allowing us to live here as foreigners and we're always there to help and for community service,” 16-year-old Ahmad says. 

READ MORE: Meet the incredible Turkish coal miners who helped save so many lives

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16-year-old Ahmad el Marouk says he is indebted to Türkiye and feels compelled to give back by volunteering.

Trying to get maximum donations 

Ahmad says he and his family members are practising Muslims, which is why they moved to Istanbul, a city with a mosque in every corner and where Islamic culture thrives without any hindrance.  

Dubbed "the disaster of the century" in the country, the death toll has surpassed 36,187 as of Thursday. In Syria, the death toll has reached 5,814.

Born and raised in Arizona, Mosab Haymour was awake when the deadly twin quakes hit the country. His friends who live in the south of Türkiye rang him up soon after the catastrophe occurred. 

"It was like a shock at first. It didn't feel real. It was sad to find out what happened. I was very worried about my friends."

Haymour says he was looking for ways to go to his friends' places and help them out but realised it would be 'hectic and impossible' to go there since the tremblor had split open many of the road networks.

Haymour is fluent in Turkish. He has been studying and working here for the last four years. Like hundreds of other volunteers, Haymour has been a regular at the Uskudar relief centre. 

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Mosab Haymour says he has been volunteering daily around the clock since relief efforts began.

"It is beautiful to see kids, mothers and older people helping here. Everybody is trying to do whatever they can," he tells TRTWorld.

"I have friends in the Gulf, I have family in America and we are reaching out to as many people as we can to get a maximum amount of donations. Some brothers collected $20,000, everybody is pitching in and contributing."

READ MORE: Psychology student launches free mental health platform for quake victims

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