In the early hours of Monday 6 February, a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Siria. On Thursday, the number of those killed by the tremors passed 20,000 and these numbers are increasing day by day. Millions of people are looking for shelter in difficult weather conditions. As UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned, the full extent of the catastrophe is still "unfolding before our eyes", especially in Syria where a long-running civil war has devastated the country.
We are in contact with our members in Turkey to understand the situation of cooperatives and cooperative members. “Now, there is no specific requests for cooperatives, there is more comprehensive humanitarian needs right now. We invite all donors to let us know their donation amount via e-mail (Türkiye Koop, ORKOOP, Youth Deal Cooperative (uno58@hotmail.com, help.tr@gencisi.org), so that we can monitor and make your contribution visible via #coops4TR social media campaign”, reports Muammer NİKSARLI President of the National Cooperative Union of Turkey.
Your help is crucial for search, rescue, and humanitarian assistance operations, our members have recommended to channel the donations through AKUT Search and Rescue Association - AHBAP - Needs Map.
"Cooperation is the response to dramatic situations such as the strong earthquakes in Turkey & Syria and the wildfires in south-central Chile" has said the International Cooperative Alliance President, Ariel Guarco.
The Cooperatives UK has also launched an appeal to support those affected. You can find more information here.
