By: WQAD Digital Team
Days after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria, the Kurdish Cultural Center of Illinois is rallying to collect donations.
CHICAGO — The Kurdish Cultural Center of Illinois is rallying Illinoisans together to collect donations for those impacted by the 2023 Turkey-Syria Earthquake.
Center Co-President Ridvan Bolgi told News 8, “People under the ruins have phones, but I’m assuming that their phones are about to die because it’s the third day and the government hasn’t been able to get reach those people in three days. It’s an unbelievable situation right now.”
The situation in Turkey and Syria has become increasingly dire, as Monday’s magnitude 7.8 quake and devastating aftershocks cut a path of destruction that stretched hundreds of miles across southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria. The shaking killed more than 19,000 people, toppled thousands of buildings and brought more agony on a region plagued by Syria’s 12-year civil war and refugee crisis.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said around 13 million of the country’s 85 million citizens were affected, and he declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces. Over 8,000 people have been retrieved from the debris, and some 380,000 have taken refuge in government shelters, authorities said.
The Kurdish Cultural Center of Illinois is collecting donations to aid humanitarian efforts for victims of the earthquakes. You can donate on Paypal by clicking here. Donations can also be sent to the center’s Zelle account, [email protected]. All donations will be sent to the Kurdish Red Crescent and the Barzani Foundation in Turkey and Syria.
