Türkiye was shaken by two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş at 04:17 on the morning of February 6, and another one with a magnitude of 7.6 in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaraş a few hours later. The earthquake caused massive destruction in Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Adana, Adıyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Elazığ, Kilis, and Malatya. As a result of the earthquakes affecting 11 provinces, the death toll is estimated at over 45,000 at the end of the search and rescue efforts.. Affecting an area of 110,000 square kilometres in the region, the earthquakes led to a displacement of up to 7.3 metres. A 400-kilometre surface fracture occurred in the earth’s crust.

Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) supports the region in coordination with the relevant units of the state for social solidarity following the earthquakes affecting 11 provinces of Türkiye. Having established an Earthquake Assistance Coordination Committee, DEİK created the Friends of Türkiye Campaign and the ‘DEİK Town’ project.

Quickly taking action, DEİK created the WhatsApp crisis hotline for the coordination of the 152 Business Council’s opposing wing organizations and interlocutors, and the demands from the business world and the Diaspora, and implemented the Friends of Türkiye Campaign. Under the mission of “Business Diplomacy”, DEİK mobilized to support the Friends of Türkiye in social solidarity and trust and opened an account for the addressees of our Business Councils with the purpose of executing the aid requests in a coordinated manner.

TOGETHER, WE WILL ESTABLISH DEİK TOWN

Having established an Earthquake Assistance Coordination Committee as one of the first actions, DEİK deals with the support in coordination. The committee started to work for short, medium, and long-term support in response to urgent needs in the disaster area. In terms of medium-term support, rapid action was taken to establish the “DEİK Town” of 1000 containers in the first stage. Besides, TRY 10 million was donated to the #TürkiyeTekYürek donation campaign. DEİK keeps striving to heal the wounds as a result of the century’s disaster with Business Councils and counterpart organizations that contribute to our support diplomacy.