Since Monday, many people have been contacting Ali Tiryakioglu at the Atalya travel agency on Fischergasse in Freising, desperate to book a flight to Turkey. “I have my hands full,” says the travel agency owner. On Monday he sat in the office until 10 p.m., on Tuesday it started again at 7 a.m. Many people with families in the earthquake area wanted to go to Turkey as quickly as possible to look after their relatives and to help, “they want to bring blankets and warm clothing”. The airlines were now trying to set up flights. He’s busy around the clock trying to find vacancies. But now flights to Istanbul had to be canceled due to the weather conditions. “People are desperate, they want to help. What can I say, I have no words. God help people.”
In front of the Alya supermarket in Freising, donations have been collected for aid transport since Monday. The willingness to donate is enormous, says Yanas Sahin. “From clothes to baby blankets – something against the winter cold”. A first truck left for Turkey on Monday, and two more are planned for Tuesday.
The willingness to donate is great, “it comes from the heart and it also arrives locally”
Ömer Korkmaz is convinced that financial donations now help people in Turkey and Syria faster and better than donations of clothes. “Clothes first have to be sorted, packed and flown there. Money, on the other hand, arrives immediately,” says the chairman of the Islamic community in Freising. That’s why the congregation wants to collect donations in front of the mosque on Friday after midday prayer to help their relatives, friends and acquaintances in Turkey. She also takes part in a clothes collection campaign by a larger aid network in Munich. However, she wants to provide quick help with the collection campaign on Friday afternoon. In the meantime, Ömer Korkmaz keeps phoning Turkey, talking to relatives and acquaintances. The concern among the community members is great, nobody can grasp the extent and the devastating effects of the earthquake: “It’s terrible. It’s the biggest catastrophe in the last century.”
Relief supplies are being collected in the Freising Mosque.
(Photo: Marco Einfeldt)
In Erding, too, collections are made at several locations. Dino Oruc is head of department at FC Türkgücü Erding and at the same time chairman of the AWO local association Erding. Both associations are now joining forces and collecting monetary and material donations for the earthquake victims. A truck from Erding with winter clothing and blankets is already on its way, says Dino Oruc. Anoraks, hats, warm jumpers and baby diapers can be handed in to the AWO storage room at Freisinger Straße 83 this Wednesday and Thursday between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. According to Oruc, two of the FC players have relatives in the disaster area. Luckily there were no deaths in their families, “but everyone is affected anyway,” says Oruc. “We have to do something.”
Representatives of the local mosques have set up a meeting point at the Volksfestplatz. The Elit delicatessen in Erding found out that several trucks left on Monday evening. Everything that helps against the cold is needed: warm clothing, blankets. The willingness to donate is great, “it comes from the heart and it also arrives locally”.
The rescue dog squadron Isar, based in Oberding, is repeatedly called to action. However, the earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area is of such proportions that “it is beyond our capacity,” says association chairman Andreas Inioutis. Here the federal association with the associated equipment is in demand.
The THW rapid deployment unit has all the important relief supplies ready and has already chartered planes
The local branch of the Technical Relief Organization (THW) Freising also refers to its rapid response unit, a group that specializes in disasters such as earthquakes. The voluntary THW volunteers all live in the greater Frankfurt Airport area. As in the case of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, they can be on site within a few hours. Because such disasters are all about time, says local officer Michael Wüst. “In order to get people out of the rubble alive, it has to be done within 72 to 120 hours after the earthquake,” he emphasizes. “In addition, there is the extreme cold, which makes the work of the rescue services more difficult.” So it makes no sense to first query all local branches throughout the Federal Republic. In addition, the rapid deployment unit would have all the important relief supplies ready, and planes had already been chartered. “The rapid deployment unit is on site with 16 tons of material, including tents, supplies and equipment,” emphasizes Wüst.
In addition to the THW, the German Red Cross also helps in the disaster area, here too coordinated by the federal association in Berlin. “There is no one on site from the Freising district association at the moment,” explains district manager Albert Söhl. However, he could imagine that the district associations will be asked later when the “chaos phase” is over.