Algerian groups launch aid drives for quake victims in Türkiye, Syria

By Hassan Jibril

ALGIERS, Algeria (AA) – Aid campaigns have been launched in Algeria to help victims of Monday’s devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

Citizens, political parties, footballers, and people from other walks of life have all come forward in a heartwarming show of solidarity.

Algerian social media has been flooded with images and videos from quake-hit areas, as well as prayers and messages of support from thousands of users.

Rescue crews of the Algerian Civil Defense have reached both Türkiye and Syria, while three planes with more than 210 tons of relief supplies landed in the Turkish city of Gaziantep and Aleppo in Syria.

The Algerian Red Crescent has also sent a team of paramedics and doctors to Aleppo.

More than 14,300 people have been killed and over 63,700 injured after two strong earthquakes jolted southern Türkiye on Monday, according to latest official figures.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, have impacted some 13 million people across 10 Turkish provinces.

In neighboring Syria, the death toll has climbed to at least 3,150, with more than 5,200 people wounded.

- The Brotherhood Campaign

The El Baraka Association For Charitable and Humanitarian Work launched a relief initiative, named The Brotherhood Campaign, just hours after Monday’s quakes.

It put out an appeal urging Algerians to support “their brothers by donating to help them in their ordeal.”

In a video message to Anadolu, the group’s head Ahmed Ibrahimi stressed the need to “embody the meanings of brotherhood in Islam by helping the affected.”

“We saw with our own eyes the effects left by the earthquake, and it is our duty to stand with our people who were affected by it,” he said.

Ibrahimi, who is also vice president of the Global Coalition in Support of Jerusalem and Palestine, said the group has started relief operations in affected areas, providing hot meals, blankets, tents, and medicines.

“We started by setting up tents, especially since the aftershocks have prevented many people from returning to their homes,” he said.

“We and the Turkish and Syrian people are all brothers and sisters,” he added.

While all sorts of help is welcome, the association prefers monetary donations to directly purchase supplies, which helps make movement and our response swifter, he said.

Ibrahimi said relief supplies, including blankets, medicines, tents, and other essential equipment, are also being collected at various locations in Algeria.

He said numerous Algerian philanthropists have reached out and helped with donations to buy critical relief supplies.

- Algerian Relief Authority

The Algerian Relief Authority has also kicked off a campaign to collect donations for earthquake victims in Türkiye and Syria.

“In the wake of the strong earthquake that shook Türkiye and Syria and caused severe human and material damage, the authority launches the urgent relief campaign in solidarity with the affected people, and calls on all the Algerian people for solidarity, support and assistance,” the group said in an appeal on its Facebook page.

It also published bank account numbers for donations that will be used to buy tents, blankets, medicine, food, and other relief supplies.

* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat