“We are in a lot of pain. It is difficult to describe in words what we have experienced,” says Halil Ibrahim Acar of the Selimiye Mosque in Veghel. Just like all other mosques in the Netherlands, Friday prayers were dominated by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
About 450 families with a Turkish background live in Veghel. About 200 of these have their roots in the affected area.
The earthquake, the destruction and all the dead people, it hits hard at many mosque visitors. “We have prayed for the people who have died or who are still under the rubble,” says Hassan Durmus. “Also for the people who are in the hospital.”
Hassan is originally from Kirikhan, a town near Hatay near the Syrian border. “Everything is in ruins there,” he says. Much of his family lives there. “We couldn’t reach anyone for the first few days. There was no telephone and electricity.”
“He called me during the earthquake if anything happened to him.”
Finally managed to get news from his family. “My sister and her son were able to get out of their house. The house itself is completely flat. From my wife’s family, a wife, a daughter, another daughter, two stepsons and a three-month-old baby died.”
The parents of Youssef Dagdelen from Veghel live in Gaziantep. He talks about the night of the earthquake: “I was on night shift. My father called me at 2 am. He said there was a very strong earthquake going on. He called me to make sure if anything happened to him.”
“I feel so powerless.”
“That touched me enormously,” Youssef continues. “Fortunately, my parents are doing well. My niece was under the rubble. They were able to get her out. But her mother-in-law has passed away, as have her nieces and nephews.”
Youssef and Hassan are not only saddened by the loss of family and acquaintances, they also feel powerless. “I would love to go there myself,” says Hassan. “But all roads are now closed. They will open again soon. Then I want to go to Turkey so that I can do something to help there. Now I feel so powerless. I’m working to get rid of that feeling every now and then, but I can’t. Not all week.”
“My daughters are going to help in Turkey.”
“We are here,” says Youssef. “All we can do is collect money and stuff and send it there. That’s all we can do.”
On Friday morning, Hassan’s daughters (37, 35 and 30) flew to Turkey to help as aid workers there. “One of my daughters is a doctor, the other a psychologist and one is a university lecturer. I hope they can do something there. I think it’s very good that they are going,” says Hassan.
Because there is still hope. “This morning two more children were pulled alive from under the rubble from our city by German aid workers,” says Hassan. “That gives hope. Our people are already dead and buried. But this still gives hope for others.”
