Bangladeshis continue providing relief goods to people affected by quakes in Türkiye

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Scores of Bangladeshis came to the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) office in the capital Dhaka for the ninth day in a row on Friday with relief supplies for people affected by powerful twin earthquakes in southern Türkiye.

While traffic gridlocks during peak hours are normal in the megacity of nearly 20 million people, people were seen coming to the TIKA office even on bicycles and walking in with boxes.

"I rode my bicycle here in half an hour and handed over the donations that I collected from my friends, close relatives, and colleagues," Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, an herbal medicine practitioner, told Anadolu.

"Though I see many mega groups and companies donating huge amounts of materials with big cartons here, I can say that my materials are minor in quantity but filled with enormous love and solidarity," Ahmed said.

Many other people expressed their feelings after making donations in the same way.

"TIKA is also awaiting approval from the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh to open a bank account so that people can easily provide hand cash through the banking channel," TIKA Bangladesh Coordinator Sevki Mert Baris told Anadolu.

Meanwhile, another special cargo flight carrying approximately 100 tons of relief goods and a regular flight carrying nearly 10 tons of materials will depart Dhaka on Friday night, according to a TIKA official source.

Over 38,000 people were killed by the two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, the country's disaster agency said on Thursday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.