Hello, my name is Andre. Many of you know me for a long or short period of time, some may not know me but knows Resit Otkun. If you are receiving this message unsolicited, then it’s because someone who knows me has thought it important enough to share with you. Thank you.
Some years ago, my god mother, who was like a mother to me died and I was devasted. As I struggled with her loss, a number of friends helped and supported me. Amongst them was Resit, a Kurdish man living with his family in this country. When Resit heard of my loss, he stopped everything to support me during my period of grief. Resit works for Taylor Wessing LLP in London. He is an educated man.
Overnight on Sunday/Monday 5/6th February the first of several earthquakes hit Turkey and neighbouring Syria. Almost immediately Resit lost touch with his sister’s family who live in a small village called Taslihoyuk about 160km east of the earthquake epicentre which was about 26 kilometres east of the city of Nurdaği in Turkey’s Gaziantep province.
On Monday morning Resit left his immediate family and his comfortable life in England and flew to Turkey.
On arrival in Taslihoyuk he found a scene of utter devastation and personal tragedy. His sister, her husband and their five children had lived in the ground floor of a two-storey house and the entire ground floor was gone. The upper floor had collapsed on top of it and crushed everything beneath. Following a long operation in freezing cold, locals managed to rescue his brother-in-law, his sister and three of their children including their 4 months old baby, but two, aged 2 and 3, died when they were trapped in the rubble.
The profile photo is of 3 year old Sirac, bare feet, dirty, holding a gift tightly against his chest. Through all the trauma this little boy and so many others have endured, he still has a smile of gratitude and hope on his little face, holding onto dear life.
Many buildings in the village were in a similar state and Resit reports that they are cut off from mainstream aid by distance and the devastation elsewhere.
On Tuesday one aid agency, Afad, did make it to the village. Their mission was to distribute blankets, tents and some sandwiches, not to help in the rescue efforts. Resit borrowed his brother’s car and drove 86 km (172 km round trip) to the nearest city to buy food and provisions, not just for his own family but for as many people as he could.
They are now sleeping in the car, trucks and tents, and the night-time temperatures are hovering around -5 degree’s and expected to go lower. There have been many aftershocks.
Resit, his family, and their neighbours, need help. My first thought was to give to the aid agency Afad that reached them on Tuesday but they have gone away and no one knows when they will be back so I think the most effective aid is financial, cash, that can be channelled via Resit, and provide food, tents, warm blankets, toiletries, and clothing, which can be sourced as locally as possible.
To that end I have set up a crowdfunding page and I humbly ask that you give generously. 100% of your gift will reach Resit, his family and their neighbours. Thank you.