Elderly volunteer drives thousands of kilometres from Amsterdam to help victims of quake in Hatay
HATAY, Turkey - Driving almost 4,000 kilometres, a Turkish national a few days ago arrived in quake-stricken Hatay province in order to voluntarily help those affected by the devastating tremor, doing all he could within his limited resources to help alleviate the grief of the victims.
Nurettin Baykal, 64, packed his minivan with food items and drove from Amsterdam. He wanted to help those affected by the latest quakes in Turkey’s Hatay province. After driving 3,850 kilometres for four days, he arrived on Monday.
“When I was in Amsterdam, I heard there was an earthquake here. Some of my friends were there. They were in Iskenderun and Dortyol. That's why I immediately decided that I must come to Hatay. I saw the center of Antakya where a huge disaster had happened there. I just visited the [AFAD] coordination center and I said I wanted to volunteer to help. Here we are. Sometimes we only sleep for two hours. We keep watch at night and during the day. We also distribute essential items. We do as much as we can do,” Baykal told Rudaw on Monday.
The elderly man is originally from Mus province. He has been living in the Netherlands for the past 35 years.
“I can't stay at home on difficult days. Even during the campaign to liberate Kobane [from ISIS between 2014-2015] I stayed there for four months. We help people. The places we take aid to are in need of them. They live in dire conditions. Fifteen days have passed since the crisis happened. There are still areas where the [Turkish] state has not reached out to. I will stay for 2-3 months, as long as people need services,” he added.
He distributes aid to quake victims from his car all day.
A disastrous 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Kurdish city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey on February 6, with its impact also ripping through neighbouring Syria. Several other strong quakes and thousands of aftershocks followed. Around 50,000 people have died in both countries, according to latest figures.
Nurettin Baykal, 64, packed his minivan with food items and drove from Amsterdam. He wanted to help those affected by the latest quakes in Turkey’s Hatay province. After driving 3,850 kilometres for four days, he arrived on Monday.
“When I was in Amsterdam, I heard there was an earthquake here. Some of my friends were there. They were in Iskenderun and Dortyol. That's why I immediately decided that I must come to Hatay. I saw the center of Antakya where a huge disaster had happened there. I just visited the [AFAD] coordination center and I said I wanted to volunteer to help. Here we are. Sometimes we only sleep for two hours. We keep watch at night and during the day. We also distribute essential items. We do as much as we can do,” Baykal told Rudaw on Monday.
The elderly man is originally from Mus province. He has been living in the Netherlands for the past 35 years.
“I can't stay at home on difficult days. Even during the campaign to liberate Kobane [from ISIS between 2014-2015] I stayed there for four months. We help people. The places we take aid to are in need of them. They live in dire conditions. Fifteen days have passed since the crisis happened. There are still areas where the [Turkish] state has not reached out to. I will stay for 2-3 months, as long as people need services,” he added.
He distributes aid to quake victims from his car all day.
A disastrous 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Kurdish city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey on February 6, with its impact also ripping through neighbouring Syria. Several other strong quakes and thousands of aftershocks followed. Around 50,000 people have died in both countries, according to latest figures.