The Türkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV) continues to provide humanitarian aid to its volunteers and officials in disaster zones due to the earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş and affecting 10 provinces.
Our Foundation has mobilized all its resources to address basic needs in earthquake zones and to aid in search and rescue efforts in coordination with AFAD.
Türkiye Diyanet Foundation General Manager Izani Turan expressed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the earthquake and wished urgent healing to the injured citizens.
General Manager Turan informed that the Foundation’s officials and volunteers have been transferred to the disaster areas since the first moment of the earthquake. Turan said, “Our II Chairman of the Board of Trustees İhsan Açık, our Deputy General Manager Abdurrahman Çetin, our charity and social services director Abdullah Aydos, and 30 personnel of our Headquarters within the scope of disaster examinations are rapidly transferred to the earthquake regions and support the works in the region and make determinations about the needs of the region.”
Turan, stating that a large number of personnel from the Foundation’s 1003 branches across Türkiye have started to move to the earthquake regions, said, “Thousands of officials and volunteers of our Muftis and Branches terminate their preparations and reach out wherever they are needed in the earthquake regions and sustain the analyses; delivers aid materials to our aggrieved citizens.”
TDV’s search-and-rescue teams are in the field
General Manager Turan said that the search and rescue team of 75 people under the responsibility of Bartın, Ordu, Bursa, Afyonkarahisar, and Istanbul Branches supported the field examinations in earthquake regions with the coordination of AFAD in 10 provinces, especially Kahramanmaraş and Hatay.
Turan said that relevant vehicles from the foundation’s fleet have also been transferred to earthquake zones. “From our headquarters, we had 1 mobile kitchen trailer, 1 coordination vehicle, 1 disaster vehicle, 4 mobile catering vehicles, 3 additional transportation vehicles, 1 support service vehicle, and a trailer were transferred to earthquake zones. In addition, a large number of mobile catering and support vehicles have been transferred to the regions from our branches.”
Refreshments for disaster victims and rescue teams are offered
Stating that TDV is the first non-governmental organization in Türkiye to receive the “Nutrition Accreditation Certificate” by AFAD, Turan said, “Our volunteers and officials in the earthquake regions are constantly providing hot soup, food and various treats to the disaster victims and the teams performing search-and-rescue under difficult circumstances in the field. The state and the nation continue to heal the wounds by uniting hands.” he stated.
Reminding that the citizens affected by the earthquake were hosted in the appropriate mosques, Turan said, “Our President of Religious Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Türkiye Diyanet Foundation, Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş, announced that our mosques, which were not damaged in the earthquake, were open to the use of our citizens. As the Presidency of Religious Affairs and the Türkiye Diyanet Foundation, we are carrying out the process in cooperation. Our officials and volunteers host our citizens who are victims of disasters in our mosques, offer various treats, and strive to meet the needs of our citizens.”
TDV launches aid campaign
General Manager Turan also announced that they had launched an aid campaign with the slogan “It Is Time For The Charity Of Türkiye” on service in earthquake regions. Emphasizing that they will continue to heal the wounds of the disaster victims affected by the earthquake with the aid collected, Turan said, “Our benefactors can donate 25 TL by writing ‘DEPREM’ and sending an SMS to 5601 or they can donate online at bagis.tdv.org.“
Tent shipments are being made to earthquake zones
Turan said that much in-kind aid such as tents, blankets, water, food, sleeping bags, hygiene products, stoves, and power banks, which were entrusted to the Muftis and the Foundation’s Branches by donors, were quickly delivered to the earthquake regions. He also said tents were being shipped from the Foundation’s headquarters to the seismic zones.
