Earthquake appeal

From Page 1

The family are originally from Gaziantep in Southern Turkey which is just forty minutes away from the epicentre of the devastating earthquake in the city of Kahramanmaras. According to Yilmaz he is devasted and very worried for his family and friends back home.

“We woke up on Monday morning to the devastating news of the earthquake and of course the first thing you want to do is to contact family and friends to see how they are. We were frantically ringing and texting and thankfully most of my people are safe. My families houses have been destroyed and they are staying in friends houses at the moment. Sadly my aunty and one of my cousins were killed in the earthquake which is the worst to hit our country in almost 150 years. We feel so helpless watching the images on the tv and we wanted to do something to help so we have asked people to drop in donations to our shop which we will deliver to the Turkish Embassy in Dublin who will then send them on to Turkey.

Yilmaz has been living in Ireland since 2000 and says he and his family are heartbroken as they watch the death toll rise (at the time of going to press more than 9,600 people had been killed by the earthquake which registered at 7.8 on the Richter Scale.

Yilmaz’s son Emrah pleaded for people to help saying that temperatures are very low at the moment in Turkey and neighbouring Syria and many of those who have survived the quake have been sleeping in their cars or on the streets as they wait for aid to arrive. Rescue workers have strug- they are free to enjoy walking around the Cooley mountains but pleaded with them to abide by the local countryside code that prohibits walkers from bringing dogs up the mountains. gled to reach some of the worst-hit areas with many roads destroyed by the quake combined with poor weather and a lack of resources and heavy equipment. Some areas are without fuel and electricity.

“We will try and cater for people walking and co-operate with the local authority, but unless you are a shareholder on the mountain you have no business bringing a dog.

“These sort of incidents are becoming very common unfortunately and it is leaving a very bad taste in sheep farmers mouths, some of whom are regretting allowing walks on their share of hill land.” david and sophie.

Emrah’s brother Ercan says that donations can be left in either Yilmaz’s Turkish Barbers on Clanbrassil St or Johnny’s Turkish Barbers on Park St. to help those affected by the earthquake.