On 6th of February during the early hours of the day around 4am an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 hit Khramanpisch Pazar and around 1pm it hit a city about 130km away called Elvistan. The earthquake hit the southern part of Turkey near the borders of Syria and caused indescribable pain, sorrow and suffering to people in over 10 cities. Although thousands of rescue crew are at work because of the terrible weather and the aftershock the number of casualties and those injured continue to increase.
The damage was so severe that President Erdogan declared a state of emergency for 3 months and ordered closure of schools for 2 weeks.
International Youth Fellowship sharing the pain of Turkey
Amidst this tragedy the work of volunteers from IYF UK and IYF Albania is delivering consolation to those affected. Mayor Mehmet of the state of Elvistan, requested help from manager Geunsoo Kim describing the terrible scenes in his city. The mayor knew IYF through the Korea Day event the year before.
The mayor said that most of the help is geared towards the larger cities so he sincerely asked for aid in his relatively small city.
Volunteers from UK, Albania and Turkey purchased every day essentials (first aid kid, milk, hygiene products) and drove 1000km to Elvistan. And the scene before their eyes were truly horrific. The whole city was evacuated, and it was a ghost town. There were only rescuers and ambulances around the city.
IYF volunteers worked together with city hall employees and helped clear up the city and met with the mayor to discuss further aid.
Interview with the mayor of Elivstan
“I would like to truly thank those who came from Korea to help us. Last summer we began a good friendship through the Korean Day event and thank you for coming to our aid once again. One third of our city have been completely destroyed. And beneath the collapse there are still many of our loving family and people trapped. Their pain is our pain. We are grateful for your visit all the way from Korea and your presence alone provides us with great comfort. I hope that we can clear up the situation and console those who need confort through cooperation.”
Afterwards, the meeting with the state governor of Axari was broadcasted on national TV and the governor also expressed his gratitude to Korea for sending aid during these tough times.
We still remember the warm hearts of Turkish students whom we met through IYF Korean Day programs in the city of Elvistan. That is why the news of the earthquake aches our heart even more. We hope that God will comfort the hearts of those in Turkey with the Gospel.
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