In the immediate wake of Türkiye’s devastating twin earthquakes, a team of Uyghur volunteers from East Turkestan was among the first to respond to the disaster.
“As soon as we saw the extent of the destruction, we decided to come to Türkiye’s Kahramanmaras province to help however we can,” Seyit Tumturk, an Uyghur Turk who hails from East Turkistan, told Anadolu.
Tumturk is the head of the East Turkistan Culture and Solidarity Association and the East Turkistan National Assembly. Both organizations are based in Türkiye’s central Kayseri province.
“After gathering aid contributions in Kayseri, we immediately set out for Kahramanmaras with a truckload of food, clothing, blankets, and mattresses,” said Tumturk, who has been living in Türkiye since 1965.
“Since our arrival here, we have hardly slept at all,” he added.
On Feb. 6, southern Türkiye, along with parts of northern Syria, was rocked by back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 on the Richter scale.
The epicenters of both earthquakes were in Kahramanmaras, where they caused widespread death and destruction. The tremors also struck nine other provinces-Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.
As of Monday, the total death toll in Türkiye stood at 31,643 and is expected rise further as more bodies are found.
According to Tumturk, he and his fellow Uyghur volunteers have been “deeply affected” by what they have seen, both in Kahramanmaras and other quake-hit areas.
His foundation has since dispatched six truckloads of aid to Kahramanmaras, where it has been distributed to quake survivors, many of whom have been rendered homeless.
Three dozen members of Tumturk’s foundation are currently working in different areas of the earthquake zone, where they wake up early each day to prepare hot meals for survivors and local rescue workers.
In the days following the twin quakes, foundation members also contributed to search and rescue efforts, which remain ongoing until now.
“Some of our members helped rescue children who were buried under the rubble in Kahramanmaras,” Tumturk said.
The disaster, Tumturk said, had also served to shed light on the “deep solidarity” shared between the world’s Turkic community.
“This community isn’t limited to the nation of Türkiye and its 85 million inhabitants,” he said.
“It’s comprised of Turkic people from all over the world,” he added, “including the roughly 35 million who reside in Chinese-occupied lands.”
Tumturk was quick to point out that the Feb. 6 earthquakes took a “steep physical and financial toll.”
“But despite the loss and devastation,” he said, “the Turkic people have the strength and fortitude to overcome these current hardships.”
Tumturk urged Turkish political groups to “set aside their differences in these difficult times.”
“At the end of the day, we’re all Turks,” he said. “And together, we can overcome any adversity.”
