Those who follow the world agenda may be hearing Turkey's name frequently these days. For those who have not heard, let me summarize briefly.
On Monday night, February 6, at 04.17 local time, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake occurred in the south of the country. Immediately afterwards, earthquakes of 6.4 and 7.6 magnitude caused both destruction and loss of life.
The 3 earthquakes that occurred in a short period of 9 hours affected a total of 10 provinces and caused many people to experience the shock of their lives during their sleep.
Today is the 11th day of the earthquake and people are still being pulled from the rubble. Main services such as shelter, food and health are being provided for the survivors. Since it is winter in the earthquake-affected areas, temperatures reach well below minus values, especially at night.
As a country, we are sad and we are going through a difficult time that will not be forgotten in our memories. The regions not affected by the earthquake are trying to do what they can for the affected regions.
Life goes on, and after a while the hopes of pulling people out of the rubble will come to an end. For those who saved their lives in the earthquake, the struggle for life will continue from where it left off.
After the earthquake on February 6, almost all activities in the country came to a standstill. Many organizations, especially education and sports competitions, were postponed and general mourning was declared in the country.
As we leave the 11th day behind, we are trying to heal the wounds and get back to the daily routine of life.
In this context, the UEFA Conference League last 16 round soccer match between Trabzonspor and Basel was played today in Trabzon, a city not affected by the earthquake. The home team donated all the proceeds of the match to the earthquake zone.
After the kick-off, the spectators waited in silence for 4.17 minutes. For 4 minutes and 17 seconds there were no cheers. The time period symbolizing 04.17 local time when the earthquake occurred was quite emotional.
Afterwards, when the traffic license plate codes of the 10 provinces affected by the earthquake coincided with the duration of the match, the name of that province was chanted by all fans. In these moments, there were moments full of emotion that gave goosebumps.
Trabzonspor won 1 - 0 in a match played at a time when football and the game on the field lost its importance. But rather than the score, the provinces hit by the earthquake, which were announced throughout the match, were remembered in tears.
Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Adana, Adıyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis and Malatya
It is not easy to accept that for a few minutes the earth's crust moves beneath you, and when it stops, it takes the lives of tens of thousands of people and injures hundreds of thousands more. The sight of entire cities reduced to rubble is worse than war, while survivors wait in hope for their loved ones by collapsed buildings.
On Day 11, the total loss of life has exceeded 36,000. The number of wounded survivors from the rubble has exceeded 108 thousand.
Earthquake is a disaster that claims alot of life anytime it happens but not really something to think of, may the soul that departed in such disaster rest in peace