Belgian media joins efforts for fundraiser to aid quake victim in Türkiye, Syria

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – Belgian broadcasters called on Monday to make donations for the victims of the powerful earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria last month.

Following the call of the 12-12 consortium assembling the seven biggest charity organizations, Belgian media outlets across the country urged their audience to contribute to the fundraising campaign for the people affected by the natural disaster.

Radios and TV channels dedicated spots to talk about the disastrous effects of the earthquakes, while newspapers and online outlets presented articles and advertisements for the campaign.

The radio stations also played all day the song “People help the people,” featuring 30 singers, including Turkish artist Hadise.

The timing of the media campaign is “symbolic” since the earthquakes happened exactly a month ago, the 12-12 consortium said in a press statement.

This is the first time that all the Belgian media outlets regardless of their linguistic differences joined their efforts for a charity campaign since the tsunami and earthquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004, Gilles van Mortel, the coordinator of the 12-12 consortium stressed.

Caritas International, Red Cross Belgium, Handicap International, Medecins du Monde, Oxfam Belgium, Plan International Belgium and UNICEF Belgium are members of the 12-12 consortium.

The charities raised over €8.27 million ($8.83 million) in the first two weeks after the earthquakes, according to their numbers.

More than 46,000 people were killed in the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes that shook Türkiye on Feb. 6, according to officials.

The strong tremors, which were centered in Kahramanmaras province, have affected about 13.5 million people across 10 other provinces: Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.

They also rattled several neighboring countries and caused widespread destruction in northern Syria, where nearly 3,500 people were killed, according to combined figures given by both the regime and opposition.