Turkey earthquake.. Campaigns to ease the pain of those affected in Ramadan

The month of Ramadan has returned and its joy has prolonged, but in southern Turkey, especially the cities that were affected by the earthquake of February 6, the month will have another taste that they did not know.

Hundreds of thousands of Turks are living in tents or containers as shelters, after their homes collapsed last month, as a result of the earthquake, and they will have to deal with an atmosphere full of pain, although it will be mitigated by the amount of support allocated to them from official, unofficial and external parties.
Jawad Belbay, a resident of the city of Antakya, describes to “Sky News Arabia” the difference between the atmosphere of Ramadan in past years, and Ramadan this year, saying: “We were preparing to receive the holy month a while before it. We go to shop for the needs of the month of cheese, meat and sweets to put in the house.” “.

He added, “But where is the house now? There is no, our house collapsed in the earthquake, and we are staying in a tent waiting for reconstruction and returning to our new homes, and until then we have to deal with the situation here.”

And about their current living conditions, he adds: “Most of the residents depend on food subsidies provided to them by the state or relief organizations, and there are large iftar tents being prepared in order to organize group iftars during Ramadan.”
Great support

Relief agencies and donors at home and abroad launched campaigns to provide the necessary support for the earthquake area, just days before the month of Ramadan. These areas include:

• Expanding the hot meal tents that were set up with the coordination of the Turkish Emergency and Rescue Authority, in the cities of Hatay, Adiyaman, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya, and converting them into iftar tents during Ramadan.

• Increasing the number of meals served in these tents during Ramadan, and distributing Iftar and Suhoor.

• Entertaining those affected by holding celebrations and games, such as children’s acrobatics.

These services are provided by associations and non-governmental organizations, such as the Federation of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in Turkey, the Association of Independent Industrialists and Businessmen, the Anatolian Businessmen Association, the Restaurants and Tourism Association, the Red Crescent Society, in addition to donors.
Official census

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that nearly 900,000 people are now living in tents and containers.
In detail, he said: “There are currently 865,000 citizens in tents and 23,500 of our citizens are in containers, and more than 350,000 are now living in school dormitories,” promising to rebuild the demolished homes within the 140,000 buildings that collapsed in the earthquake, within one year.
In addition to material losses, the earthquake claimed the lives of 54,000 people, in Turkey and Syria.