Vancouver’s Turkish community mobilizes to send emergency supplies to earthquake-stricken homeland
A passenger plane packed with donations and emergency supplies is set to travel from Vancouver, B.C., to Istanbul on Tuesday, as the death toll from Monday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkiye and Syria surpasses 6,200.
Taylan Tokmak, Vancouver’s Turkish consul general, joined volunteers at the Mavi Jeans warehouse at 580 Industrial Ave. Monday night, where more than 400 boxes and 12 pallets were prepared for the first of several planned Turkish Airlines flights for this emergency mission.
He says the airline, which launched non-stop flights between Vancouver and Istanbul back in May 2021, is delivering the donated goods at no cost, with a goal of sending new shipments every two days.
“Right now it’s snowing in that part of Turkiye, so it’s a race against time,” Tokmak told CTV News at the warehouse Monday night, hours after he attended the throne speech at B.C.’s legislature.
While In Victoria, Tokmak says he spoke with Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s minister of emergency management and climate readiness.
“The B.C. government is ready to help us. We reiterated our needs about humanitarian assistance for Turkiye. I also highlighted that Turkiye, for the last decade, has been the number one refugee destination in the world, and now this time it is us who is in deep need.”
Speaking to reporters after the throne speech, Ma confirmed the province has received requests for the support of B.C.’s Heavy Urban Search and Rescue teams.
“We have a team in Vancouver, and in Burnaby and in Surrey. We are currently awaiting instructions from the federal government,” Ma said Monday.
On Tuesday, Ottawa announced plans to contribute $10 million to earthquake relief efforts in Turkiye and Syria as part of an initial aid package.
LOCALS WORRY FOR LOVED ONES BACK HOME
Cansoy Gurocak, a volunteer at the warehouse who moved from Turkiye to Vancouver in 2011, says the most important thing Canada can do for his home country is send search and rescue teams to the devastated south-east region.
“We have a hard time to reach the centre of the earthquake because the roads are destroyed,” Gurocak said of Turkish search and rescue efforts. He’s been in contact with his parents in Turkiye, and says the seniors have lost their home and are living in their car.
“They’re scared, they’re hopeless,” Gurocak told CTV News, adding he hasn’t heard from eight of his relatives, and expects some didn’t survive.
“Shelter is the most important thing, but rescue teams have to take responsibility and they try to save as many people as possible.”
Buket Donnelly, one of the organizers behind Vancouver’s volunteer effort, is also struggling to reach her loved ones back home.
“We have some people here working but their family is actually under the rubble, so it’s so difficult to work, but what else can we do?” Donnelly said. “In Turkiye it’s cold, snowing, raining—so they need any type of help, so we are trying to do our best.”
A Turksih café in Kitsilano, Simit Bakery, is hoping to organize a local fundraiser for earthquake recovery effots. In the meantime, they’ve supplied a list of reputable organizations people can donate to—including AFAD, AKUT and AHBAP.
“Our families, they are OK, but they are all living in outside in their cars,” owner Alper Tasdurmaz told CTV News.
According to the latest census data by Statistics Canada, Vancouver’s Turkish population is around 2,350.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Retired teacher pleads guilty to paying for sex with 15-year-old in Collingwood, Ont.
In a Barrie courtroom on Monday, a retired high school teacher from the Niagara Region pleaded guilty to sexual touching and obtaining sexual services from a 15-year-old boy in Collingwood in 2021.