A 7.8 earthquake in Turkey and Syria on Sunday killed thousands of people. FOX 17 spoke with two people in West Michigan who have a special connection to the two countries.
One of them is Feryal Alayont, a professor of mathematics at Grand Valley State University. Alayont is from Turkey.
“I can imagine what those people are going through and like, my whole day has been messed up,” said Alayont. “I’m thinking how can I help? What can I do? And just running out of ideas?”
Another person that FOX 17 spoke to is Yusuf Basmaci, a research assistant at Central Michigan University. Basmaci has dual citizenship with Turkey and Syria.
“It’s very tragic, to be honest,” said Basmaci. “And I mean, there is nothing to do, I mean, from here, I mean, we are just sending our prayers, hopes that some people can be rescued.”
Both Alayont and Basmaci’s families in that part of the world are safe and far away from the destruction. However, it is still painful for them to watch.
“People are really struggling in both sides to know about the relatives living in these, in the affected cities,” said Basmaci. “And yeah, I mean, people, they are just waiting for, for any piece of news from someone in the neighborhood, for pictures to see if the building is okay or not.”
However, they both hope that the earthquake leads to more people willing to help.
“If anybody has the means to be able to help other people, please do,” said Alayont. “So, there are millions of people who need to help right now.”
“I think maybe the only good thing in such tragedies is that it will inspire us to have more tolerance and to connect us more so we can help each other," said Basmaci.
