Dear friends, members and partners of the MitOst community, 

The news of the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 21.000 people (at the time of writing) in Turkey and Syria has reached us with dismay. Our hearts and minds are with those who have been affected by the earthquake, who have lost their family, friends, and their homes, are injured or/and under huge shock. 

The situation is overpowering. More than 21.000 people have been killed in both Turkey and Syria, tens of thousands are injured, displaced or still buried under collapsed buildings.

We are in touch with members of our community who are either in, or have connections with Turkey and/or Syria, and we are exploring how we can support them in effective ways. We are also witnessing the resilient efforts from a significant number of people: individuals and civil society organizations, local and international, in gathering resources and offering support in any way possible. 

The current economic context of Turkey with its high inflation adds to the severity of the situation which will continue to be ravaging. The situation in Northern Syria is even worse –  very little international help has arrived in the affected areas, which already struggled with access to electricity and medical aid. The aftermath of the earthquake will have consequences that will last for years.  

We stand in solidarity and take action to support people in Turkey and Syria who are going through this immense tragedy which will take a long time and needs joint efforts to recover from. 

It is crucial to support now, in every way we can. We call upon our community, partners, friends and colleagues to support the different efforts. Please find below some reliable and valuable information about organizations that you can support.

Turkey

Halkların Köprüsü Derneği is a non-profit charity and solidarity association, founded with a view to developing /strengthening public friendship and solidarity between peoples and facilitating solidarity vis-à-vis social-political catastrophes and natural disasters with severe social consequences. http://halklarinkoprusudernegi.org/en/donate/

AHBAP is a voluntary organization currently working actively to provide shelter, food, and medical supplies to those affected by the earthquake in Turkey. They also accept donations in USD and EUR: https://ahbap.org/disasters-turkey 

AKUT is entirely a voluntary, non-governmental organization involved in searching, assisting, and rescuing the victims in the affected region in Turkey. You can directly access their donation page in English with the following link: https://www.akut.org.tr/en/donation 

Turkey Mosaik Foundation has launched the Kahramanmaras Earthquake Emergency Relief Fund to support civil society organizations working on the ground to provide immediate relief and medium to long-term recovery to survivors of the earthquake: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/kahramanmarasearthquake 

AMAN Project is currently prioritizing the needs of LGBTQ+ refugees in Turkey that have been adversely affected by the February 6th earthquakes that have devastated the region.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/aman-project-turkey-program 

Action Medeor works like an emergency pharmacy, transporting medication, medical equipment or bandages to the crisis area within 24 hours. At the moment also in Turkey: medeor.de/de/spenden-und-helfen/spendenformular.html?image=erdbeben-tuerkei-syrien&fb_project_id=92670

Kids Rainbow is a recognised actor in Gaziantep since 2020. They normally offer non-formal educational activities, child protection and protection services to 110 refugee children and their families. They are now supporting the families, local volunteers and team members through this on-going emergency. https://gofund.me/01eac7ff

Syria

MOLHAM volunteering Team is a nonprofit, charitable organization aimed at supporting internally displaced and refugee Syrians in northern Syria and neighboring countries. They started an emergency campaign accepting donations in USD via: https://molhamteam.com/en/campaigns/439

The White Helmets are responding to the huge earthquake that hit Syria. As they search for survivors and pull the dead from collapsed buildings, they urgently need support: https://www.whitehelmets.org/en/ 

Kurdish Red Moon’s purpose is to carry out its activities in light of universal values and principles, with the aim to bring aid assistance at an international capacity to alleviate suffering in Kurdistan and wherever it may be found: https://www.heyvasor.com/en/banga-alikariya-lezgin-ji-bo-mexduren-erdheje

CADUS is a non-profit and independent aid organisation with headquarters in Berlin and regional offices in Northern Iraq and Northeast Syria: https://www.cadus.org/en/donations

Adopt a Revolution (AaR) is a German-Syrian solidarity and human rights organization that was founded in the context of the peaceful uprising in Syria in 2011 and in view of its increasing brutal persecution: https://civicrm.adoptrevolution.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=30 

medico international has been supporting organizations in the affected areas for years. In Rojava volunteers of the Kurdish Red Crescent/Moon have been helping to rescue and care for the injured in Kobane and Aleppo: https://www.medico.de/en/campaigns/donations-earthquake-emergency-aid

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