Toronto organizations launch fundraisers to send supplies to Turkey.
Zaza Pervane, Yildirim's co-worker at Zula Burger and Pizza, a Turkish take-out spot in Toronto's west end, says while he was lucky to hear back from his family, they still need to weather the cold without shelter and electricity.
"The last few hours have been very difficult — just still trying to contact our family members and all," said Baris Kafadar, the vice-president of the Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations, who's based in Toronto. "I'm proud of the support that the Turkish community is receiving both from abroad and within the community. There's a sense of solidarity," said Kafadar.GlobalMedic is working on deploying two teams: one to find and rescue survivors out of debris, and another to help distribute essentials like makeshift-housing, toiletries, water and food, says Rahul Singh, the executive director of the disaster relief charity, which is based in Toronto.
The quake struck a region that has been battered on both sides of the border by more than a decade of civil war in Syria. On the Syrian side, the swath affected is divided between government-held territory and the country's last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Turkey, meanwhile, is home to millions of refugees from that conflict.
"The images that we're seeing, and some of the stories that we're hearing from our team on the ground have been quite devastating," said Patel, noting homelessness is one of the biggest challenges so far.
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