Turkish Americans in Utah raise funds for earthquake relief

Aftermath from Turkey's earthquake in Iskenderun on Tuesday. A group of Turkish Americans in Utah are helping to gather money for their suffering homeland.

Aftermath from Turkey's earthquake in Iskenderun on Tuesday. A group of Turkish Americans in Utah are helping to gather money for their suffering homeland. (Burak Kara, Getty Images via CNN)


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SALT LAKE CITY — About 30 minutes after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, Ahmet Emre received a phone call from a friend in Turkey.

The friend — knowing that Emre's hometown of Besni is about 14 miles from the epicenter — told him about the quake and urged him to call his family.

"It was sudden shock and sudden worry. At that moment, all I wanted was for my family to be OK," said Emre, a board member of the Utah Turkish American Association. Once he called his mother and siblings and confirmed that they were OK, his mind turned to his friends and extended family, as well as the wider devastation in the region. He scoured for live updates about the quake and its many aftershocks.


We're just watching, listening and reading constantly and sharing important information with each other.

– Pinar Bayrak Toydemir, president of Utah Turkish American Association


"You start seeing all these pictures, images and videos — oh my God, it doesn't end, the tragedy. I'm happy for my family, but it all just saddens you what you see all around," Emre said, adding that no good news is coming from his hometown. Individuals he knows from childhood are still buried under the rubble or missing.

Over 4,000 people were killed in the earthquake and authorities fear the death toll will continue to rise as rescuers look for survivors among thousands of toppled buildings in the region, the Associated Press has reported. Because many roads were damaged, rescue personnel and resources have faced difficulty reaching smaller villages that were hit. Many homes are not stable enough for people to reenter, leaving many to sleep in cars, on the streets or in other buildings still standing.

The Utah Turkish American Association is asking Utahns to donate to earthquake relief efforts. Association President Pinar Bayrak Toydemir said they're working with the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, to identify where Americans can send donations. Information about donations is available on the Utah Turkish American Association's website.

"We identified this organization because we know this organization is directly helping the survivors, or the people who live in the cities right now. They are really well-equipped and well-organized and educated on how to help earthquake survivors," Toydemir said.

"I want to thank all the Utahns that have contacted me trying to help," she added. "I am so thankful and feel so happy to live in Utah where it's really people who like to help each other. I just want to tell them to please pray for the Turkish people, and if they want to help, a donation will be great."

Toydemir said members of the association have been working together through the messaging app WhatsApp to coordinate and support one another.

"We have like hundreds of messages and trying to figure it out if everyone's families are OK, asking questions and everyone wants to help — but nobody knows really what to do," she said. "Everyone is so sad. No one is getting good sleep because there's a 10-hour difference right now, so nighttime is daytime in Turkey. We're just watching, listening and reading constantly and sharing important information with each other."

One of those members is Gulsen Akay. When the earthquake hit her family members in Turkey, they thought the world was ending.

"They were so scared," Akay said. "They heard a bomb-like sound first and everything was shaking. They tried to get the kids and just went outside with their pajamas and slippers, even though it was freezing cold."

A man prays on a collapsed building in Malatya, Turkey, Tuesday. Search teams and aid are pouring into Turkey and Syria as rescuers working in freezing temperatures dig through the remains of buildings flattened by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake.
A man prays on a collapsed building in Malatya, Turkey, Tuesday. Search teams and aid are pouring into Turkey and Syria as rescuers working in freezing temperatures dig through the remains of buildings flattened by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake. (Photo: Emrah Gurel, Associated Press)

Akay, who moved to the U.S. six years ago to complete a medical genetics residency program, feels helpless in Utah as her family deals with the aftermath of the massive quake and multiple aftershocks that hit central Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday.

"I feel guilty now, sitting in one place and eating my food because I know there are a lot of people outside in the freezing cold without anything," Akay said. "It's very hard not being able to do anything here."

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Sydnee Chapman Gonzalez is a reporter and recent Utah transplant. She works at the Utah Investigative Journalism Project and was previously at KSL.com and the Wenatchee World in Washington. Her reporting has focused on marginalized communities, homelessness and local government. She grew up in Arizona and has lived in various parts of Mexico. During her free time, she enjoys hiking, traveling, rock climbing and embroidery.

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