ADANA, Türkiye
Winters are usually dim for hotels in Adana, one of the 11 southern provinces hit by the twin earthquakes that rocked Türkiye on Feb. 6.
However, the city center has witnessed an uneven rush at the peak of the wintry cold.
“Our business normally sees a rush during the spring, particularly April,” said one hotelier.
During spring, this province of around two million people known for its popular cuisine Adana Kebap — a dish that consists of long, hand-minced meat — witnesses a rush of people as the province hosts a gastronomy festival to showcase Turkish culinary cultures.
Oranges, turnips, and watermelons are among the menu options on the food tables in the city’s Seyhan area near the big Sabanci Mosque, which opened for prayers in 1998. This is the province’s second biggest mosque, built along the lines of the famous Selimiye Mosque in Edirne province, Türkiye’s westernmost tip of the border with Europe.
In the aftermath of the unprecedented disaster brought on by the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes, Adana has turned into a center for most international arrivals including search, rescue, relief, humanitarian and media workers.
Sitting with his colleagues is Idan, from Tel Aviv, an international development worker, who only gave his first name.
“Even if we say we are from Israel, people welcome us,” he said.
Part of IsraAid, an international NGO with operations in 14 other countries, including in Africa and Latin America, Idan told Anadolu his team had been working in southern Türkiye since Feb. 7.
“We landed in Türkiye just 30 hours after the first earthquake hit the country,” he said.
Helping local economy
Idan said their aid operations provide support to the “incredible” work being done by the Turkish government, led by the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).
The Israeli independent aid group, consisting of around 15 members, has been operating in Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Osmaniye provinces.
“We provide emergency relief like tents, blankets, hygiene kits, solar power and water filtration equipment,” said Idan.
Quake-hit people have been given family-size solar lights by the Israeli group for the use of electricity independent of regular supplies.
“It just might support families with limited access to electricity at the moment,” he said, suggesting the use of renewable energy sources in post-reconstruction operations.
“Dignity of people is important,” said Idan’s colleague, emphasizing the importance of meeting basic needs such as hygiene kits.
Besides bringing relief material from Israel and Europe, Idan said: “We have made purchases in Türkiye to help the local economy and also that the supplies (for aid work) reach faster.”
Like Idan’s NGO, a group of South Koreans and an all-women squad from Taiwan landed at the international airport in Adana.
The new groups arrived to follow up on their colleagues who arrived soon after the quakes hit Türkiye on Feb. 6.
“We will assess the ground situation about rehabilitation operations,” said the Taiwanese group as its members spoke to their colleagues over the phone while a Turkish volunteer was preparing vehicles for their onward journey to a hotel.
Mart Cafe, center of dining table chatter
Outside the airport is the round-shaped Mart Cafe – a center of meetings and dining table chatter. It also has a restroom and mosque where people are seen making beelines.
Its workers are attending an unusual rush since Adana Airport received direct international flights carrying search and rescue personnel for post-quake operations. Provincial airports in Kahramanmaras, Hatay and Gaziantep were temporarily closed for the first few days after the quake disaster, shifting air traffic to Adana.
Most of the international teams who visited this cafe enjoyed Turkish tea, Adana Kebap, soup, pilav and other dishes.
Idan said his team is analyzing the ground situation in view of the quakes.
“There will be new requirements, as kids will go to school while people may also need psycho-social and mental support… We work in these areas,” he said.
“The response of the Turkish government is incredible,” he stressed. “We are here to complement and support existing operations and not to replace them.”
Adana is also home to at least three top educational institutions including Cukurova University, whose students volunteered at the airport on a shift basis to help international aid teams in translation and other logistics stuff.
Awed by the resilience of the Turkish volunteers, Idan said they are everywhere and “ever ready to extend support to us.”
“We feel no tension…We are welcomed here,” he added.
Nearby his hotel is an old, middle-sized mosque named Yeni Cami, or New Mosque, built in 1724.
While many are perplexed why the mosque was identified as “new” when its construction dates back nearly 300 years, its prayer leader, or imam, is seen welcoming new non-native faces after leading congregational prayers.
“Do you need anything? Do you have a room to live in?” the imam is heard enquiring from the newcomers inside the mosque. “We love you for the kind of support you have extended to us.”
Across the road from the mosque, a cobbler in his 60s, said: “There were already other mosques in Adana when Yeni Cami was built. So, people at that time named it the ‘new mosque’.”
Some 500 meters away from New Mosque is Yag Cami (Oil Mosque). It was opened for prayers in the 16th century.
Locals say most of the population is engaged in agriculture, while the province also has cotton and textiles industries.
At least 41,156 people were killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6. Around 105,505 others were injured.
Over 9,000 international search and rescue personnel flew into Türkiye after the quakes hit its southern provinces.
Dubbed the worst earthquakes of the 21st century, the twin tremors were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig, and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.
Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the tremors that struck in less than 10 hours.
Türkiye issued a level-4 alert, calling for international aid.
More than 249,000 search and rescue personnel are currently working in the field, according to AFAD.
Around 100 countries have offered assistance so far, with many having sent rescue teams.
