Turkiye
\nIt has now been more than 10 days since the devastating earthquakes struck the southeast of Turkiye and the north of Syria. Throughout this time, all Turks, whether in Turkiye or abroad, have psychologically collapsed. We have been and still are experiencing a mixture of feelings at the same time, such as desperation and hope, anger and happiness (the latter for those rescued). During these days, we have seen both the most beautiful and the ugliest aspects of humanity.
\nWhile writing this article, the official death toll has surpassed 35,000, making this disaster the deadliest in modern Turkish history, surpassing the 1939 Erzincan earthquake that killed 32,000 people. Turkiye is going through a process of a crisis within several other crises. This catastrophe wiped out the history, the past and the memories of so many people. It destroyed homes, ancient sites and even cities and a civilization. However, this calamity should not take the future of those who survived and who have suffered the pain of all the country. This collective pain should trigger a collective awareness.
\nThere have been rays of light amid this darkness. The international community\u2019s solidarity and response has been very important. It is certainly unforgettable to see countries from all across the world rushing to save lives. Some 74 countries sent rescue teams and aid to quake-hit Turkiye within a few hours. The list of countries to have provided support to the Turkish people is too long to mention here, but there are some noteworthy ones, such as Greece, Armenia and Israel. The Turkish people were always forced to believe that \u201cTurks have no friends but the Turks.\u201d However, this catastrophe has shown once again that countries can cast their hostilities aside and bind the wounds together. Because the pain unites. So, Turks do indeed have friends.
\nGreece, with whom Turkiye has troubled relations, was one of the first countries to send its rescue teams. Greek people sent aid with handwritten notes in Greek and Turkish saying: \u201cMay you get well soon, neighbor.\u201d It is hard not to break down in tears when seeing one sharing your pain. It is also hard to forget the scene of a member of the Greek special disaster management team bursting into tears after pulling a seven-year-old girl out of the rubble in Iskenderun. Both Turkiye and Greece lie on seismic fault lines and they have a good record of standing by each other in times of natural disasters. After the earthquakes that took place first in Turkiye and then in Greece in 1999, the aid provided by the two countries to each other helped soften relations at that time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkiye It has now been more than 10 days since the devastating earthquakes struck the southeast of Turkiye and the north of Syria. Throughout this time, all Turks, whether in Turkiye or abroad, have psychologically collapsed. We have been and still are experiencing a mixture of feelings at the same time, such as desperation and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-314394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n