BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 14. People affected in the earthquake zone in Türkiye need help, the Coordinator of the Central Asian and Caucasian regions of the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) Muhammed Hamza Nedimoglu told Trend.
According to Nedimoglu, currently, warm clothes are not among the essentials, but the food is always needed.
He noted that the humanitarian aid sent is transferred to the coordination center of the Turkish Emergency Situations Agency (AFAD).
"AFAD has a list of what is needed in each region. The agency sends aid to the regions in accordance with this list. All activities of our foundation are carried out in coordination with AFAD,” the IHH representative explained.
“The rescued people are taken to hospitals. Help is also needed for people whose houses are damaged or destroyed, they are pulled out from under the rubble, but they will no longer be able to return home. First of all, they need food,” Nedimoglu said.
“These needs are covered by the state, as well as by a number of institutions. The tents are most needed now, but we think that the best option is to build container villages. Of course, at the initial stage, it’s financially difficult. At the moment we are setting up tents, but at present, it’s difficult to find even tents in Türkiye," he added.
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Türkiye on Feb. 6, 2023. The earthquake occurred at a depth of seven kilometers in the Pazarcik region of Kahramanmaras Province. The provinces of Hatay, Gaziantep, Kilis, Osmaniye, Malatya, Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, and Kahramanmaras were subjected to severe destruction.
The quake’s epicenter was located 26 km away from the city of Gaziantep with a population of about 1.06 million. Following the latest data, 31,643 people have been killed, and 80,278 have got injured in the quake.