Egyptian associations in Türkiye collect $200K for earthquake victims

By Ibrahim El-Khazen

ISTANBUL (AA) - Egyptian associations in Türkiye said Thursday the initial donations for quake victims have exceeded 3.6 million Turkish liras (some $200,000).

This is in addition to five relief convoys, a donation campaign, evacuation of those trapped, and volunteer missions.

“Since the earthquake occurred on Feb. 6, Egyptian institutions have worked, in coordination with a number of official Turkish authorities, to launch a donations campaign amounting to 3.6 million Turkish lira until Wednesday evening," the organizations said in a statement.

More than 254 members of these institutions volunteered with the Istanbul municipalities and participated in the evacuation of more than 200 affected people, according to the statement.

The Union of Egyptian Students in Türkiye participated in the relief missions, including activating a hotline to receive the affected students' contacts and coordinating their evacuation.

Islam Al-Awadli, head of the New Pioneers Association, said “we have a debt towards Türkiye and its hospitable people, we consider ourselves an integral part of this great country.”

Hossam Al-Fakharani, chairman of the Board of Directors of Future Generations, said: “We launched the campaign to return the favor ... the campaign is directed to the Turkish and Syrian peoples and works to provide the required support.”

Wael al-Mursi, executive director of the Diwan al-Khair Association, stated that the association launched the campaign as a way of standing with Türkiye and "alleviating the suffering of those affected in northern Syria.”

At least 36,187 people were killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, said the country's disaster agency on Thursday.

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

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report.​​​​​​​