Greeks gather aid for earthquake victims in Türkiye, Syria

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - Boxes piled up at the entrance of Athens’ municipality building in Greece as people from all backgrounds donated items for the victims of last month’s devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

The neatly organized items included clothes for men, women, and children, as well as medicine, food, and other essential goods.

The response was overwhelming not just in Athens but from several other municipalities across Greece.

“For five consecutive days, we collected essential goods from all across Athens,” Katerina Gagaki, the deputy mayor of social solidarity and civil society at Athens municipality, told Anadolu.

There were 27 spots where citizens from all over Athens -- the capital and dominant city of the Attica region -- could drop off essential goods, medicine, food, blankets, and other items, Gagaki said.

“The truth is what we experienced from the day that this action started till the last day was overwhelming and magical,” she added.

Apart from citizens who collected donated items and brought them, many companies were motivated by the cause, she said.

Fifty trucks from all 27 collection spots left filled with the donations to reach the municipality’s main storage facilities so they could be packed and sent to quake-stricken Türkiye and Syria.

Gagaki said a similar action will take place in the near future.

In Türkiye alone, more than 46,100 people died in the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes on Feb. 6 centered in Kahramanmaras province which affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces.

"If we all realized that this misfortune that happened right next to us, didn't happen to our country only by total coincidence, we would be even more willing to help,” Cybel Laskari, the founder and head of the Cultural and Animal Welfare Association of Kifissia AGAPI, told Anadolu.

Laskari described how the images following the deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria shocked her.

“When we learned about the terrible earthquake in our neighboring Türkiye, we looked in awe at the heartbreaking images of despair and destruction that were broadcasted to us on television,” she said.

Despite her association being mainly animal welfare related, this did not stop them from taking action to help people affected by the quakes.

Anyone who respects and loves animals respects and loves life as well, she said, adding that this small human chain that is created is just a small miracle to help heal the wounds of the victims.

These efforts reflect “our main principle that every single act, no matter how small, in the end makes a difference,” she added.

The association along with many volunteers who joined the great chain of support along with all those who rushed to help as much as they could collected clothes, blankets, medicines, hygiene items, and food for people and animals.

“Pain and the need for help is experienced in the same way for everyone,” she said, adding that this action was not done to take credit but to encourage others to do the same.

“Today it’s them, tomorrow it could be us,” she said.

Greece is familiar with the effects of earthquakes, and for many people, the images from Türkiye and Syria bring back memories of the devastating impact of the deadly 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Athens in 1999, where 143 people lost their lives and hundreds were injured.

Thirteen hours after the quake, a team of 20 rescuers from Türkiye arrived in Athens.

“In these kinds of tragedies, there are no such things as race or color or political ideologies. There is only pain, and we should all participate” in relief efforts, Laskari said.

The Church of the Holy Trinity in Athens could not stay away from participating in this act of kindness and solidarity, Father Marcus told Anadolu.

“I spent hours crying watching on TV those images -- children crying after losing their families and parents looking in the rubble to find their children.”

“What kind of an agony these people are living,” he said.

Father Marcus managed to collect 50 boxes of essential goods that would be sent to the Red Cross and then transported to the quake-hit countries.

He explained how, for three consecutive Sundays, he dedicated prayers to the victims and those who were still searching for their loved ones.

“It is the least I could do. We are all one. We are humans, and we need to have solidarity and empathy between us,” he said.