Thurso barber raises £5000 for victims of Turkish earthquake
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A Thurso barber has raised thousands of pounds that he intends to directly take to victims of a devastating earthquake that happened in his Turkish homeland in February.
Ismail Dogrulmaz, who runs Deya's Turkish Barber shop on Princes Street which is named after his wife, has been collecting donations from his customers along with other local people and raised £3910 which he will take to the areas affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in southeast Turkey near the Syrian border.
"I will make the total amount up to £5000 with my own money to help the people affected by one of the worst earthquakes of all time," said Ismail.
"People have lost everything. They don't have any houses, don't have anything to eat. In Turkey, if you don't have any money you don't survive. I will go around the areas affected and find people who seriously need help, maybe five or ten families, and share the money with them."
Ismail says the money mainly came for his loyal customers and "lots of pensioner ladies" who felt moved by the plight of the people affected and donated to his appeal. He says that the money came flooding in, without him having to do much advertising, due to word-of-mouth information being shared in the tight-knit community.
"Lots of people in the affected areas are struggling and they don't have anything. We're just going to share with these people."
Derya reiterated the words of her husband and said that many people are left without homes and jobs and have no means to support themselves. "We're both going to support these people. Since day one we've been helping our families there," she said.
"We want the money to go to the people who are really in need the most and we're going over there to look for them. There are a lot of women left with no husbands and no houses. These are the people we really like to help in the southeast of the country. My cousin, a lady, was killed in the earthquake."
"Some of our friends have lost their families," added Ismail. "Some of the buildings were not strong enough for earthquakes. We're going to the areas directly affected and it will be hard."
They say the money will be for food, water, clothes, furniture and any other necessary items. The couple said they want to thank all who donated to their appeal and will be heading to Turkey next month to distribute the aid.
Almost 60,000 people died across southern Turkey and northern Syria when two huge earthquakes struck during February 6. Many more were injured and displaced as thousands of buildings either totally or partially collapsed. The United Nations estimates that 4.7 million people in the rural areas of Turkey, or Türkiye as the government prefers, are struggling to get enough food.
