A local Turkish cultural organization is collecting supplies to aid people in Turkey affected by the country’s recent earthquakes.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan announced a three-month state of emergency in response to the two earthquakes — measuring 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale — that struck his country.
Turkish officials have logged a total of 1,117 aftershocks since the initial quake, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The total death count has reached more than 19,000 people, per the WSJ. This death count includes at least 16,170 deaths in Turkey and more than 3,162 in Syria.
“We are face to face with one of the biggest disasters ever for our region,” Erdogan said in the nation’s capital during a nationally televised address, as reported by The New York Times.
Vice President Fuat Oktay reported that the country’s rescue efforts have resulted in over 8,000 people being saved.
Rescue efforts in Syria are complicated as the earthquakes occurred in lands that include government and opposition-controlled areas, per the NYT.
“The later people are found under the rubble, the worse the chances for survival get,” said Dr. Gerald Rockenschaub, a regional emergency director for the World Health Organization, according to the NYT.
In response to the earthquake, the Turkish American Association of Northern Texas (TURANT) has set up three donation locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, NBC 5 reported.
These locations are open Monday through Friday and accept unused winter clothes, baby supplies and formula, tents, undergarments, blankets, cots, and unperishable foods.
One location is in Garland at 2525 South Shiloh Rd., Suite 200, and will be open from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The other is located in Downtown Dallas at 3907 Elm St., from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The third location is in Carrollton at Motif Tile Inc., 3225 Skylane Dr., Suite 125, and will open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Yavuz Akinci, the owner of Motif Tile Inc., is originally from Turkey and wants to do anything he can to help.
“I feel really bad but I feel also really happy, at least I can help people,” said Akinci, per NBC 5. “It’s my country too, I need to help my people.”
Nusin Van Winkle, a North Texan originally from Turkey, said to NBC 5:
“I think that if you put yourself in one of those people’s situation, you can understand why we have to help them. If that happened to us, how would we feel about that? Wouldn’t we want any help we can get? That’s why we have to help them.”
