HATAY, Türkiye

In Hatay, Türkiye’s southernmost province hit hard by the recent quakes, two generous brothers open the doors of their mansion to host quake victims and teams who work for their relief.

Salih Güzel and Emirhan Guzel mobilized all their means to turn their mansion which their mother also leaves into a soup kitchen to serve people affected by the massive tremors warm meal prepared by volunteer cooks.

The Turkish brothers, who settled in the West African country of Guinea 17 years ago, were at their Hatay mansion when the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes rocked southern Türkiye on Feb. 6.

Salih Guzel told Anadolu that they serve 3,000 quake victims with meals every day.

“We opened doors of our home to quake victims and those who came here to aid them,” he said.

The Guzel family currently hosts around 220 earthquake victims and volunteers and works with volunteer cooks from the western Izmir and Aydin provinces.

Physicians, psychologists, and rehabilitation teams are tending to children in the mansion.

“We will overcome these difficulties together with these wonderful people,” said the entrepreneur who, with his brother, has investments in different sectors such as restaurant dining, construction and furniture.

Salih Guzel said Turkish diplomat Cevdet Can Canikli, whom the brothers met during Canikli’s duty in Guinea’s capital Conakry, gives the most support for their post-quake relief efforts.

The brothers, with volunteers, work hard to meet the main needs of people such as dry food and clothing within three days.

In the very first hours after the earthquake, Salih Guzel pulled two people alive from under the rubble in Hatay.

He said they are working to meet the need of quake victims for shelter as much as they can, but there are many people in Hatay who still need accommodation aid.

In case a tent city would be set up near their mansion, he promised to provide meals for people there.

Despite his earlier plan to stay in Hatay shortly, Salih Guzel now said he will not leave his hometown until the wounds of the victims are healed.

Burcin Bertecene, one of the volunteer cooks, said they have been cooking for earthquake victims since Feb. 7.

“All our cook friends are working hard. We are up with 2-3 hours of sleep a day,” she said.

According to the latest official figures, over 42,300 people were killed in the powerful earthquakes centered in the southern Kahramanmaras province and struck 10 other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Adiyaman, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig. Thousands of others were injured.