Members of Goulburn Valley’s Turkish community have worked tirelessly to arrange the shipment of essential items for aid relief in Türkiye and Syria, after the two countries were devastated by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday.
GV Turkish Islamic Cultural Centre and Mosque member Ebru Bolat said people had met at the mosque on Tuesday night to organise packing of essential items.
“We got confirmation from Melbourne last night we could collate blankets, tents and sleeping bags — essential things we could send over,” Ms Bolat said.
“We have two shipping containers, one is currently at capacity and the second one at this time of the day should almost be full as well.
“Our intention is to have that flown over as soon as possible. We’ve got confirmation from Turkish Airlines to make distributions from their centre in Türkiye, we are reaching out to airlines here to see if they can take it from Melbourne to Türkiye.”
Ms Bolat said items for earthquake recovery had been prioritised.
“We’ve organised essentials, baby essentials, nappies, women’s sanitary items and things like that,” she said.
“The main thing we’re focusing on is tents, blankets, clothes, because it’s snowing and raining there, conditions aren’t good for rescue and recovery.
“We’re focusing on the aftermath, once these people have been removed they don’t have places to stay, so that’s something we have tried to assist with.”
Ms Bolat said she had received confirmation from Turkish Airlines for the containers to be sent on Wednesday afternoon, and was now waiting on confirmation from an airline at Melbourne airport that could transport the cargo into Türkiye.
The items are expected to make their way to the city of Adana in Türkiye’s south.
On top of aid items, Ms Bolat said the mosque had arranged for financial donations through humanitarian channels.
“Last night the imam and myself have calculated and raised money in the short amount of time that we had, we have transferred over donations, which will be distributed immediately,” she said.
“The best thing we can do is donate at the moment, the more we can the better, it hasn’t only affected Türkiye but Syria and Lebanon as well.”
How can you help?
If you’d like to donate to assist the victims and rescue missions of the Türkiye and Syria earthquakes, visit below:
Red Cross: The Australian Red Cross has set up a dedicated fund called the Türkiye-Syria Earthquakes Appeal. You can donate to the Australian Red Cross Türkiye-Syria Earthquakes Appeal at www.redcross.org.au/earthquakes/
Doctors Without Borders: Also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, the charity provides emergency medical assistance in crises, such as natural disasters and wars. You can donate to the charity's general emergency at www.donations.msf.org.au/donate/comms
UNICEF: The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund provides humanitarian aid to children and adolescents. It has set up an appeal to assist children and families affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. You can donate to that appeal at www.unicef.org.au/donate/syria-turkiye-earthquake