The AKUT Search and Rescue Association has thanked Taiwanese for their generous donations in the wake of a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Turkey on Jan. 24.
The earthquake, centered near the town of Sivrice in eastern Elazig Province, killed 41 people and injured more than 1,600.
After the earthquake, Taiwanese flooded AKUT with supportive messages and donations, the organization said.
“Of the 7,133 people who donated to the organization via credit card [after the earthquake], more than 60 percent were Taiwanese,” AKUT secretary-general Zeynep Aktosun said in a meeting on Monday.
In addition, one Taiwanese voluntarily translated the donation information into Chinese, which resulted in an “explosion” of donations, she said.
Many of the Taiwanese donors said that they wanted to show their gratitude for AKUT’s assistance in the aftermath of the 921 Earthquake, the organization said.
The 921 Earthquake, which claimed more than 2,400 lives and left tens of thousands of people injured when it struck central Taiwan in 1999, is considered one of the deadliest in the nation’s history.
The day after the 921 Earthquake, AKUT dispatched 17 rescue workers, who saved the life of a Taiwanese woman who had been trapped under the rubble of her collapsed apartment building.
Twenty years later, Taiwanese still remember the work of the organization, AKUT president Recep Salci said.
“Our friendship with Taiwan stretches back to 1999, when there was a disaster in Taiwan,” Salci said in the meeting. “We went to help and became friends. This earthquake [in Turkey] has showed us that they have not forgotten us and are willing to help us. We want to thank all Taiwanese people.”
The organization also expressed thanks to Taiwan in two social media posts on Monday and Thursday last week.
“Thank you, our friends from afar,” the Thursday post says in Chinese and Turkish, next to an image of the Republic of China and Turkish flags side by side.
The Monday post expresses thanks to Taiwanese, the Turkish government, local businesses and individuals who had supported AKUT’s rescue efforts.
When one Turkish commenter asked why Taiwan had been singled out, the organization cited the large number of donations and supportive messages received from Taiwanese.
“The donations are important, of course, but the messages are our greatest motivation,” Aktosun said. “Our volunteers have been moved to tears by them.”
Since the earthquake, AKUT has received donations totaling more than 1 million Turkish Lira (US$166,976), she said.
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