The first batch of donations from Taiwan for survivors of a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that struck Turkey early Monday has arrived in Turkey on Sunday morning, according to the Taiwan-based Tzu Chi Foundation.
The Buddhist compassion relief foundation said the batch of supplies consisting of 1,358 boxes, or 8,148 blankets, arrived in Turkey at around 5:30 a.m. Sunday local time.
The supplies are being transferred to Adana Airport, which is the closest one to the affected areas so that local governments can deliver them to those in need, it added.
Meanwhile, the foundation has also teamed up with the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei to receive donations of brand-new winter clothing for both adults and children at the foundation liaison office in Taipei’s Neihu District.
Other necessities such as beds, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, mattresses, blankets, thermoses, flashlights, diapers, sanitary pads, and cleaning and hygiene items are also being accepted.
A batch of 150 tonnes of these donated supplies was loaded onto airplanes at Taoyuan Airport on Saturday evening, according to the foundation.
According to information provided by the Turkish office, that batch of supplies is expected to arrive in Turkey on Sunday evening Turkish time.
Turkish representative Muhammed Berdibek told CNA Sunday that the amount of donated supplies was so overwhelming that the office had to stop accepting donations ahead of the original deadline.
The office originally set the donation deadline for the afternoon of Feb. 15 before announcing it would stop accepting donations at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
However, after learning that many people had already bought supplies which they wanted to donate, the office later decided to continue accepting donations until 5 p.m. on Monday.
Representative Berdibek said that post-earthquake relief is a “long process” which might take months to years, and if Turkey needed more assistance from Taiwan, the office would make a public statement because “we know you are so generous and so kind.”
Meanwhile, Tzu Chi volunteer Huang Qiu-liang (???), who is helping handle donations at the Neihu liaison office, told CNA since Friday the office had been joined by more than 1,000 Tzu Chi volunteers each day to help take in and package these supplies before putting them onto trucks to be sent to warehouses at the airport.
On Monday, Taiwan’s armed forces are scheduled to send 10 military trucks plus 30 military personnel to help transfer supplies to the airport to be loaded onto a Turkish Airlines plane to be sent to Turkey as soon as possible, Huang added.
Explaining the rationale behind asking people to donate brand-new supplies, Huang said the main concerns were hygiene and to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
“They are already suffering from the earthquake and the cold weather, we cannot risk sending the coronavirus to them,” he stressed.
A number of Turkish nationals in Taiwan were also taking part in volunteer work at the Neihu liaison office Sunday, including Gürkan Erengül, a 32-year-old from Istanbul who has lived in Taiwan for three years after marrying his Taiwanese wife.
He told CNA he was deeply touched by all the help that Taiwan had offered to his country.
Though his family back in Turkey was not affected by the temblor, he has friends who live in affected areas.
They are extremely afraid of aftershocks and refuse to stay in their houses though they did not collapse, he added.
Though many countries are helping Turkey, he is most thankful to Taiwan because it was one of the first that offered to help, and is also where he lives, according to Erengül.
Fatma Kayatekin and Ümmügülsüm Günes were also helping to package donated supplies at the Neihu office Sunday, including donations collected from the Taipei Grand Masque.
“We are really grateful for all the Taiwanese who helped Turkey. Thank you, Taiwan!” said Kayatekin.
Günes, meanwhile, expressed gratitude to the Taiwanese people, government, and NGOs for offering help at a time when it is most needed by her country.
“They are helping so much, we are so thankful. I am so happy and grateful for the solidarity that Taiwanese people have shown [to Turkey],” Günes added.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel