Bosnia organizes marathon run to support quake victims in Türkiye, Syria

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - A "Run for Türkiye and Syria" marathon event was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo on Thursday for the victims last week’s devastating earthquakes.

Nearly 300 people took part in the 4-kilometer (2.48-mile) symbolic marathon organized by the Youth Wearing Blue Association.

A donation of at least €5 ($5.33) was required to take part in the event.

"We must stand in solidarity with all the people who suffer in such disasters which may affect us or anyone else tomorrow,'' said Darko Loncar, one of the members of the association.

Similar events were held in the cities of Bihac and Gorazde.

Meanwhile, five more trucks of aid were sent from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Türkiye.

Also, in the city of Mostar, a campaign called "A coffee for Türkiye and Syria" was organized.

Some 35 coffee shops participated in the campaign, serving coffee with a note saying ''For Türkiye.''

"People here definitely drink coffee every morning. We wanted the coffee they drink this morning to have a different meaning," said Nermin Mehic, one of the organizers of the campaign.

The players of FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo, one of the well-established football teams of Bosnia and Herzegovina, participated in the relief efforts prepared for earthquake victims instead of training.

They went to the warehouse of the humanitarian aid association Pomozi.ba, where aid is being collected for the victims.

The team members helped pack and transport the aid packages prepared there.

They came there in their training clothes and invited all their fans and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to participate in the aid efforts.

At least 38,044 people were killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, the country's disaster agency said early Friday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

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.