In the early morning of 6 February 2023, two earthquakes of magnitudes 7.8 and 7.6 occurred in southern Türkiye. According to a situation report issued on 19 February by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, citing official data, the seismic events had a significant impact, including the collapse or heavy damage of 345,000 individual units in 90,609 buildings, as well as the death of over 40,000 people. At the same time, more than 108,000 were injured, and 430,000 had to be relocated.
“This is a crisis of colossal proportions, one which will be a true litmus test for global generosity, solidarity, and diplomacy,” said Martin Griffiths, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “One of the biggest natural disasters of our times,” was the expression used by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, while strongly appealing to the international community to help those in Türkiye and also Syria that were affected by the earthquakes.
Shortly after this natural disaster occurred, many individuals, groups, and institutions moved forward to help, including universities that are members of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in Türkiye. One of them is Firat University, located in Elazığ, which is close to the urban centers affected by the earthquakes. The institution’s Rector, Dr. Fahrettin Göktaş, stated that this was “the disaster of the century” and that the “wounds” in the affected areas would only be “healed” with, among other things, international cooperation.
“The landscapes we see in neighboring cities are of destruction and death,” commented Dr. Ceyda Akilli from the university’s International Relations Department. “Ten of our provinces, especially in the eastern and southern regions, have simply been erased from the map,” she added. Dr. Akilli explained that in light of the magnitude of what happened and its humanitarian impact, the university decided to open all areas suitable for accommodation, especially the gym and guesthouses, to the many victims that are in need of emergency shelter.
Moreover, over two dozen civil engineers who teach at the university conduct a damage assessment in neighboring cities while the institution’s geological engineers work to determine the exact locations of fault lines in Hatay and Kahramanmaraş. That aside, commented Dr. Akilli, “we have a large team of volunteers, close to 1,000 people between staff and students, helping with food distribution and solving issues concerning shelter, heating, and hygiene for the victims, and twenty trucks with supplies were donated from our university.”
The university authorities informed as well that after the earthquakes, the work in the Student House Dining Hall was increased to full capacity, and as of now, more than 3,000 hot meals are being sent every single day to Malatya, a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region severely impacted by the disaster. Along these lines, the University Hospital was also made ready for earthquake victims who could be transferred to Elazig from the surrounding provinces and is providing urgent health services to those who require them.
Another member institution of UNAI, Abdullah Gül University, quickly responded to the call for help. This institution of higher education is located in the city of Kayseri, which was directly affected by the earthquakes, with many buildings suffering damage beyond repair. As a result, approximately 2,000 citizens took shelter and stayed on campus right after and on the following days of the terrifying incident. Furthermore, in coordination with the authorities, the university started to provide accommodation for the victims by dedicating all its student dormitories.
The university ensures that those who are temporarily sleeping on campus will continue to do so as long as it is required, with all their most basic needs covered by the institution, including food via, for instance, the university’s canteen. In addition, social media platforms are used to support the victims, and faculty members of the Department of Civil Engineering, jointly with the Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization, conduct a series of comprehensive and most needed inspections of all the buildings that were struck by the earthquakes.
Associate Professor Ahmet Çoymak, Head of university’s Department of Psychology, explained that the institution reached out to all our students residing in the disaster area. “Sadly, many people from our students and our staff have lost their relatives,” the expert commented. “Our counselors have given wide psychological support to the earthquake victims,” he added. Seminars were hosted to people sleeping on campus about critical mental health issues and on how they should communicate with the children during this process.
These are just two examples of the solidarity shown by institutions of higher education in times of natural disasters, but also in other contexts of armed conflict and complex emergencies.
