M. Fatih Sanli was awakened on Monday by the sound of messages from friends living outside Turkey asking about his family and asking if he was there. In the early morning, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake had hit the northeast of the country where he was born, despite already having Portuguese nationality after living in Portugal for 12 years. “Most of my family and childhood friends are from that area. I immediately started calling my sisters and my mother and looked on Facebook for those who said they were safe,” told the DN.
“My mother and other sister were in Mardin where the earthquake was very strong, but luckily there were no serious problems. My other sister was in Sanliurfa. She left home and now lives in a one-storey building, which is very common in that area, they are like holiday homes outside the city. She went there, but she lives with her in-laws, with her husband’s brothers… A lot of people live in a small house,” said the human rights adviser to several European NGOs and institutes. “Experts say these earthquakes are going to happen for another year, so they’re scared.”
Sanli, who is part of the Kurdish minority, watches from a distance and tries to understand how he can help the region where he worked with Syrian refugees between 2016 and 2020. He wants to go there but hesitates because he doesn’t know if it’s the best thing to do. “I’m very hesitant to help because I have no place to stay and I don’t want to take up space that could be used for the victims. That’s why I’m very hesitant,” he admitted.
Most of the friends who lived in the affected areas have already left, further west, to Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara – which were not affected. “To give you an idea, one of my best friends, who is Syrian, took almost nine hours to make a journey that takes two or three hours. Many people want to leave and the roads have also been damaged by the earthquakes. Many trucks and other means of transport, which normally support the area, block the roads. It is not easy to leave the city. And only those who have the means can do it, those who have cars and diesel. There are many who have nothing and must stay, most are like that.”
Sanli is the executive director of a non-governmental organization, Solaris, which is in contact with organizations working in Northern Syria. “I’m in touch with friends at the White Helmets, the largest, almost only, organization that can rescue people from the rubble,” he says. “Turkey did very well in opening its doors to facilitate the arrival of aid. But these are areas where the White Helmets exist. In others, under the control of the regime, they are not, because the regime does not allow anyone to supports.” than the organizations under their control. I have many reports, many past experiences, that support is not reaching the people,” he said, appealing to anyone who can help the White Helmets or through the website of the Turkish Interior Ministry.
Source: DN
