UN chief sends message to Türkiye’s earthquake aid campaign

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a solidarity message Wednesday to Türkiye's new campaign for earthquake victims, named Türkiye One Heart.

The UN chief started his video message with greetings in Turkish, saying “Dear Friends,” or “Sevgili Dostlar,” expressing his “deepest condolences and profound solidarity” with the people of Türkiye, who are facing “one of the biggest natural disasters of all time.”

“You are not alone,” he stressed. “The United Nations is with you, and we have been racing to assist.”

“When I see the images of the suffering and destruction, I see people and places I know well,” he said, recalling his past visits to the earthquake-hit areas many times as a commissioner for refugees.

“I will never forget the warmth and generosity of the people I've met,” he said, noting that Türkiye is home to the largest number of refugees in the world and praising the Turkish people’s “generosity with Syrian neighbors.”

“Now I am urging the world to support you, just as you have supported people in need for years,” he said.

“The needs are enormous, but please know we will do everything we can to support you and we appeal to the international community to do the same,” he said.

He concluded his message in Turkish, saying: “Seninleyiz Türkiye (We are with you Türkiye).”​​​​​​​

The donations collected via the campaign will be sent to Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) and the Turkish Red Crescent Society. The campaign is ongoing.

At least 35,418 people have been killed and 105,505 injured in the earthquakes that rocked southern Türkiye last week, according to the latest figures.

On Feb. 6, the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes struck southern Türkiye, centered in Kahramanmaras and shaking nine other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa, affecting more than 13 million people.

In Syria, at least 3,688 people were killed and over 14,749 injured.