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the biggest city and main business hub located at North west of Turkiye, the sadness of the people was obvious from their face and anyone could easily sense the pain and the inquietude respectively in their hearts and minds. The workplaces were silent as employees desperately tried to learn more about the devastating event. As the time passed, more information emerged from the region whilst pictures circulated on the media showing the devastation and disaster that had occurred

The question however still being raised “ was it all over?” Unfortunately, not at all… At noon, we would be shocked one more time with the news of a second strong earthquake with 7.5 magnitude in the same region… Two strong and serious earthquakes in a row in the same region was something new even for us as the citizens of a country with

So many people had buried at least one of their immediate family members, some even had lost their entire family, and so many children were left behind without parents… The first and immediate question which came to mind was simple “Would we face one more time the same tragedy?” With this fear in the hearts, friends and families who had relatives living in the affected region were trying desperately to reach them in the hope that a familiar voice would pick up the phone and declare that everyone was safe and sound. Even when walking on the streets of Istanbul, page 7 notorious earthquake history The reporters, who were broadcasting the news live from the earthquake area, were suddenly amidst the sudden shock of the second earthquake and the buildings behind them were collapsing in the blink of an eye Within seconds their surroundings were being covered with a dust cloud rising up into the air from the collapsed buildings The people were just unconsciously running around either to escape or to get help to rescue someone who had been trapped under the buildings

Teams from the “Disaster and Emergency Management Agency” were drafted in from across the entire country, however despite this, there were still insufficient numbers to cope with the unprecedented scale of damage The weather conditions were also not in favour of the people in the region either, it was already winter and the temperature was 3 Celsius during the day and close to -1 during the night Thousands of poor souls still alive were in effect buried under the cold concrete rubble of the collapsed buildings, many would pass away from hypothermia if not directly from their injuries Timing to get to those still alive was of paramount importance for their survival whilst the rescue teams worked around the clock to reach people who were trapped beneath. The time was passing quickly and the night would be soon falling over cities. The people who had luckily survived from the two earthquakes now faced hunger and cold. But for some, that was the least of their concerns as they were more concentrated on trying to save their beloved ones from the debris of their damaged homes.

Every second, the numbers of death and wounded people were increasing whereas the hopes were being replaced by deep concerns for those who had been desperately trying to reach out their friends or family members. As the days passed we were rejoicing with the news of people who were being rescued like the 13 year old boy who was pulled to safety after a staggering 55 hours buried alive. Followed by people being saved even after 220 hours.However, the record would be in Antakya after the rescue of 3 people from the debris following 296 hours beneath their collapsed home… As I try to compose this article, the calendar shows the date as 20th of February 2023, 14 days after the earthquakes… Not much rescue searches are being carried out any further in the region considering that there won’t be any more possibility for anyone to still remain alive. During these two weeks, all the international organisations showed tremendous efforts to help the people in the region by providing food, clothes, tents and so many other things, which might be handy in these types of disasters We can never thank them enough for their efforts, nor to all rescue teams who came from around the World to help us However, as of today, the death toll is close to 41 000, with more than 100 000 wounded and more than 100 000 buildings were destroyed Some people not only lost their homes, but lost their families and friends Many of those are left with neither a place to shelter nor with a place to work.

For sure, it will not be so easy for the affected people either to cope up with this catastrophic trauma nor to deal with the economic side effects. It will take years for these wounds to heal. Therefore, the people of Turkiye would appreciate your donations that you might want to channel through CSFint to help local artisanal food producers and farmers to put their business back to normal and to continue to support their families

On behalf of Turkish people, by taking this opportunity, I would like to express in advance my deepest and sincere gratitude for any possible assistance that you will be able to extend in these difficult days that we are going through. The blessings of the affected people shall be always with you.

A massive congratulations goes out to Brad Bennett ( our CSF int Ambassador to Australia ) and his students for their brilliant work and efforts in raising 1000 EU for CSF INT

The funds will go towards supporting the artisan food producers that lost their livelihoods in the tragic earthquake disaster in Turkey

It is most humbling to see our next generation of chefs supporting foods, ingredients and cultural culinary heritage from the other side of the world and ensuring the vital aspects of what small producers offer in terms of not only product diversity, but also the retention of a countries true identity and the extremely valuable culinary tourism for many other sectors within the community. Thank you all.

A big thanks to everyone that have supported with various donations since December as I appreciate that we live in challenging times and finances are not easily gained

All funds received will go to a very worthy cause of which I hope to be featuring a little insight about the recipients supported by you in our CSF int summer magazine