As the death toll continues to climb, the Turkish Embassy in Jakarta has opened several channels to receive both monetary and goods donations to help earthquake victims in Turkey, while the Indonesian government prepares to deploy its first medical team to help with relief efforts on the ground.
s disaster relief efforts continue following the 7.8-magnitude and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, the Turkish Embassy in Jakarta has opened several humanitarian aid channels for monetary and in-kind donations to help its citizens affected by the quake back home.
“There are still plenty of victims trapped under the rubble struggling to survive in winter that need help. More than 15 million people in 10 major cities in Turkey have been affected by the disaster,” said Chief of Mission Ömer Orhun Çelikkol in a letter sent on Friday.
Winter gear, tents, emergency beds, ready-to-eat foods that do not spoil easily, baby items and female hygiene products are some of the items the embassy is prioritizing, with Turkish Airlines to handle shipping the donated items. The embassy is directing monetary donations to Turkish disaster relief agency AFAD, the Turkish Red Crescent and the Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV).
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has said it would be in charge of coordinating and handling shipping for any donations made to local nongovernmental organizations to streamline the process.
“We advise concerned citizens looking to help our brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria to look at the list of prioritized items,” BNPB spokesman Abdul Muhari said on Thursday.
As of Sunday, the combined death toll from the earthquakes stood at more than 28,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
United Nations humanitarian affairs chief and relief coordinator Martin Griffiths said he expected that number would “double or more” as the search for victims continued, AFP reported.
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