The German-Turkish community rushes to send money and blankets to the earthquake victims

BERLIN (Reuters) – Turkish and Kurdish communities in Germany have launched fundraisers to send money, warm clothing and blankets to victims of a devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and northwestern Syria on Monday.

As news of the disaster spread and prompted frantic calls for help, volunteers in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich began collecting relief supplies for thousands who were injured or made homeless after their homes were destroyed.

According to the Turkish Community in Germany, Germany has the largest Turkish diaspora community in the world with around 2.3 million people of Turkish origin.

Levent Cukur coordinated an aid campaign in the boxing hall he runs in Munich.

“We didn’t expect it to be this crazy, it’s crazy. We thought we would fill up two vans and then send them off, but it hasn’t stopped since 10am this morning.”

As he spoke, a group of people were loading boxes of donations onto trucks. The first batch is scheduled to leave for Turkey on Thursday.

“It is currently very cold in the affected regions and people urgently need blankets, warm clothes and boots,” said Tunca Karakas, a member of the Turkish-German Circle.

Rescuers were still trying to save people trapped under rubble on Tuesday as the death toll from the earthquake surpassed 5,000.

“We’re getting down to work,” said Faruk Akalan, a representative of the Kurdish Red Crescent in Germany, who has already sent 250,000 euros to the affected regions.

The Turkish community in Germany informs the community about existing donation campaigns.

“Sending money is better than sending goods because people themselves know best what they need and can use the money to buy it,” said parliamentary group leader Gökay Sofuoglu.

($1 = 0.9330 euros)

(Reporting by Friederike Heine and Laura Alviz; Editing by Matthias Williams and Ben Dangerfield)

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