The Turkish government is requesting international assistance “on a scale that matches the enormity of the situation that they are facing”, the UK Foreign Secretary has said.
Updating the Commons on the UK response to the Turkey and Syria earthquake, James Cleverly said: “Across the region inhabited by more than 12 million people, more than 6,000 buildings have collapsed. Electricity and gas infrastructure has been severely damaged.
“Many of the 3.5 million Syrian refugees hosted by Turkey reside in the affected provinces. Turkey’s outstanding disaster relief response capability has been severely tested by the sheer scale of this catastrophe," he said.
“The Turkish government has declared a state of emergency and they are requesting international assistance on a scale that matches the enormity of the situation that they are facing.
“Turkey will lead the disaster relief response in the areas of Syria where it has the presence.”
Three British nationals missing
Three British nationals are missing following the earthquake which struck south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, the Foreign Secretary has said.
Making a statement in the Commons, James Cleverly said: “As of this morning, we know that three British nationals are missing and the Foreign Office’s Crisis Response Hub is working to support the at least 35 British nationals who have been directly affected by these earthquakes.
“We assess that the likelihood of large-scale British casualties remains low.”
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake has struck Syria & Türkiye causing devastating damage. Our partners Caritas Syria are on the ground right now.
— Trócaire (@trocaire) February 6, 2023
You can make a donation to help here: https://t.co/wRYNFc4OvL pic.twitter.com/ip0kj4uZYy
'All I can feel is guilt… I feel guilty to be in my warm home'
A woman who spent the first 10 years of her life in Turkey and now lives in London has described struggling to “find words to describe” how her family is feeling after the homes of her relatives living near the earthquake’s epicentre have completely collapsed.
Dilan Altun, 22, works in finance and has tens of relatives in Elbistan, Turkey, including her grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, who she has been in contact with and said are now “homeless”.
“I’ve never seen my grandad cry – they’re trying to help others but they’ve got nothing themselves,” Ms Altun, from north London, told the PA news agency.
“People are hungry, kids, elderly (people) and pregnant women… People have to sleep outside in the rain and snow – some people have actually died from the weather conditions after being rescued from the rubble.
“All I can feel is guilt… I feel guilty to be in my warm home, I feel guilty for falling asleep in my bed when everyone is out there in the cold and helpless.
“The locals are pinpointing exactly where and how many people are under rubble but they receive (zero) help… They have to dig with their own hands and nails to try to get some people out.”
'Turkish citizens in the UK are just absolutely amazing'
A spokesperson for the British Turkish Association, based in Luton, has applauded the reaction of “all communities” in London as he helped send over 300 boxes of donated aid with a Turkish Airlines cargo plane from Heathrow.
Atilla Ustun, 55, spent the first five years of his life in Turkey and now works as the chairman of the Luton-Turkish Community Association as well as the BTA, and spoke to the PA news agency from the airport after delivering clothing, medical supplies, and aid for babies headed for southern Turkey.
“What we’ve seen in the last 24 hours (is) that the Turkish citizens in the UK are just absolutely amazing,” Mr Ustun said.
“I think it’s just a human reaction in every sort of disaster around the world (and) unfortunately, it has happened in southeast of Turkey.
“It is very emotional when this sort of thing happens… The actual size of the disaster is very, very large indeed – so we (will) help as much as possible.
“Just locally, in Luton itself, we’ve raised around £20,000, but we know that in general I think in London it’s now between £200,000-300,000.”
ActionAid UK
Mike Noyes, humanitarian director at ActionAid UK, said they had deployed workers from their team in Jordan to the disaster zones and had committed £40,000 from their emergency reserves to start giving relief in the form of tents, heating materials and clothes.
“People have fled their homes with nothing so there’s a real immediate need for shelter, but also food, clothing and water as those things have been disrupted,” Mr Noyes said.
“Right now we’re trying to make sure we have the funding for this support because the financial needs are going to be massive in the immediate and longer term as we help people recover and rebuild.
“We know there are huge pressures on people in this country at the moment, but we also know from experience that people in this country open their eyes and see what’s going on in the rest of the world and have a great deal of sympathy.
“We’re confident in the UK public’s willingness to be generous, they are always willing to support those in desperate need at a time of humanitarian crisis. They’ve shown it again and again,” he added.
“What we can do in the next few days, if we have the resources, will save people’s lives.”
ActionAid UK’s Mike Noyes added: “The humanitarian needs around the world are very big at the moment.
“I have only just returned from Ukraine, and there’s a drought situation and looming potential of famine in East Africa.
“We know our colleagues in sister agencies around the UK are going to do their best for the people in Turkey and Syria, and it’s something we’re all going to have to pull together on because not one of us can do it alone.”
Save The Children
James Denselow, UK head of conflict and humanitarian advocacy for Save the Children UK, said a historical aid presence in both countries will help get aid to people in need quickly, however he said the aid route to northern Syria, where there is ongoing conflict, remains inadequate.
“Northern Syria is an area where we were dealing with severe malnutrition and far more huge humanitarian needs than in other environments before this happened,” he said.
“If you’re a vulnerable population and then something else like this happens on top of that, obviously what happens to you is likely going to be far worse.
“We see that with very basic things like children’s physiology. The ability of a child to survive crash injury from a building falling on them is far reduced if they are malnourished.”
He added: “This is going to be about getting blankets, food, clean water, education kits – so children don’t find their studies completely devastated by this – to them.
“We need to keep those people warm, we need to keep young infants warm.”
Mr Denselow added: “The scale of this earthquake, in terms of not just strength but the kind of actual absolute sprawl of it has meant that we’ve had to spend a lot of time in this first phase checking in on needs, checking in on what is working logistically, checking that all our people are OK.
“Because you’ve got airports out of action, hospitals collapsed, clinics collapsed, all the sort of places we would normally use are not necessarily accessible.”
Mr Denselow said the cold weather conditions, particularly in parts of Syria, means the need is even greater.
“Providing shelter is the most urgent type of aid from our perspective, because the cold will kill people in ways that are less spectacular than the earthquake, but equally deadly.”
'Support the White Helmets'
The chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee has said people should donate to a Syrian humanitarian group if they want to help with rescue efforts after the earthquake.
Alicia Kearns told BBC Radio Scotland today that the UK Government can do less in Syria than in Turkey – which was also affected by the disaster – due to the country’s fraught political situation.
Asked what people in the UK who felt “helpless” could do, Ms Kearns said support should be given to the White Helmets – a humanitarian group which has worked to save lives as the civil war in the country raged.
“I share that feeling of helplessness and I think anyone who has worked on Syria will be haunted by where we have failed, not been able to do things,” she told Good Morning Scotland.
“I would ask anyone wanting to help, particularly in Syria… please donate to the White Helmets.
“The amazing videos you’re seeing of children being pulled out of destroyed buildings, the reason these people are expert at it is because they’ve spent 12 years pulling people out of burnt-down bombed buildings.
“Please donate to the White Helmets and support them, and the Government will therefore focus their support to Turkey.”
UK Development minister Andrew Mitchell said that, despite “very considerable strain” on the UK aid budget, the government would be able to provide the support needed in response to the earthquake that hit parts of Turkey and Syria.
Speaking on Sky News, he said: “The aid budget is under very considerable strain. But Britain always carves out a certain amount to cope with humanitarian crises. That is what people in Britain expect us to do. Britain is always there first and in strength to help when these appalling catastrophes take place. And we will be there this time.
“And the humanitarian budget is in a way slightly separate from the steady state international development budget, and it is there specifically to respond to crises like these.
“The humanitarian budget is very carefully coordinated and set and it reacts to the need on the ground.
“You could never tell at the beginning of the year what humanitarian crises are going to take place and therefore it has to be a flexible part of what we do.”
Earlier he said that British support to Turkey, following the devastating earthquake, has not yet left the UK.
A flight to Turkey with British rescue specialists had been due to leave last night, but Mr Mitchell signalled that it had been delayed but would be leaving “imminently”.
“Britain is sending 76 people who specialise in getting people out of the rubble and four sniffer dogs, and also an emergency response team,” he told GB News.
“The critical thing in these circumstances is the first 72 hours. These significant British assets are waiting to leave Birmingham. They were ready to leave last night.
“It has to be coordinated with the Turkish authorities. I expect them to leave within the next couple of hours so that they land in daylight. And then this British expertise will be helping what is a huge, international effort to save lives.
“It’s being coordinated very professionally by the Turkish authorities. They were ready to leave last night. But my information is that they will be leaving imminently and of course they will be landing in daylight, and that is the time where they can be most effective.”
