Students raise funds for Turkey quake relief

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake and 70 aftershocks in southern Turkey Monday have killed more than 20,000 people across the region and displaced thousands more at the time of publication. From a small table at the campus entrance on Trousdale Parkway, students from Turkish affinity organizations at USC are working together to raise funds and awareness for their home country. 

The Turkish Trojan Association and the Turkish Graduate Student Association came together to fundraise for Ahbap, a Turkish non-governmental organization providing disaster relief. 

“We’ve been trying to gather donations like clothes and tents for the people there,” said Sim Beken, a sophomore majoring in architecture. “All of the schools around the U.S. who have a Turkish student association have been trying to raise money and send it back to Turkey.”

The drive for donations comes as the Turkish government scrambles to provide food, shelter and warmth to people who are displaced and enduring near-freezing temperatures as the destroyed infrastructure system is complicating resource delivery and search and rescue operations. 

Countries in NATO and the E.U. have pledged financial aid for Turkey and Syria, and neighboring states — including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania — have deployed teams of military personnel and first responders to help dig through the rubble. In the United States, President Joe Biden announced an $85 million disaster relief package Thursday, and the Los Angeles Fire Department announced it would be sending teams of first responders to Turkey and Syria.

“We’re super upset that we’re here in L.A. and can’t do anything to help other than raise donations,” said Edvina Buyuksoy, a freshman majoring in business administration. “But we’re doing our best to send help to our country together as USC students.”

Emir Ceyani, a graduate student studying electrical engineering and president of the USC Turkish Graduate Student Association, described himself as “shocked” by the events in an interview with the Daily Trojan Monday. But in a subsequent interview Thursday, Ceyani said watching the student community come together provided a sense of comfort. 

“I’m hopeful,” Ceyani said., “We’ve started taking donations, and we collected around $4,000. We are waiting for matching [donations] from our Turkish friends in the industry, like Google and Microsoft, and if we can match it, it could be at least twice or three times of the amount we are collecting…we also plan to talk with USC Donation Center to get the help of USC officially.”

President Carol Folt offered support and condolences to impacted communities in a tweet Tuesday. 

“Our hearts go out to the people of Turkey and Syria as they face a grave humanitarian crisis from devastating earthquakes,” Folt wrote, directing community members to available support lines at the University.