As you will have heard, Turkey was affected heavily by the earthquakes recently. More than 40,000 lives lost (for now), hundreds of thousands wounded and their homes collapsed, and sadly many bodies (live or dead) are still under the wreckage of the buildings.
The Turkish government announced a state of emergency in the area affected, which includes 10 cities and a population of more than 13.5 million. Most of the people living in the region are homeless. Hospitals, governmental buildings, apartment buildings, ancient and historical monuments – almost everything has collapsed. This disaster is the one of the biggest this century, it's like a war.
We are also thinking of the people of Syria who have also suffered terribly.
As James Elder, a spokesperson for Unicef, which is running an earthquake appeal for both countries, said: “Thousands of homes have been destroyed, displacing families and exposing them to the elements at a time of year when temperatures regularly drop below freezing and snow and freezing rain are common."
Now we need help to spread the call for donations worldwide through websites and social media accounts, where possible. Donations are being collected by Ahbap, Turkish Red Crescent, Afad, Akut and Unicef.
Global brands such as Coca Cola, PepsiCo, BP-Castrol, Ford, Fiat, Toyota, Unilever, Procter & Gamble and many others are donating millions of euros to the supporting campaigns.
This is not just a call for today. The recovery from the damage could take tens of years. Please do not think only about today.
Ömer Erdem is the publisher of Campaign Turkey
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