Turkiye - One year on

8 Feb

Serve On volunteers In Adiyaman, responding to the Turkiye earthquakes in February 2023, along with rescuers and dogs from SAR Team, of Portugal and K9 Search and Rescue NI — Serve On International Response Team volunteers in Adiyaman, responding to the 2023 Turkiye earthquakes, alongside rescuers and dogs from Portugal’s SAR Team and K9 Search and Rescue NI.

One year on from the devastating earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria in February 2023, our volunteers have been reflecting on that terrible tragedy, proud to have been among the international teams which stood up to help in the aftermath, and remembering those who lost their lives and those who were affected by the disaster.

With such a terrible loss of life and such widespread destruction, it is inevitable that the suffering will continue for many and they remain in our thoughts.

As part of the commemorations, we were honoured to be invited by Turkiye’s Anda Association to the opening of a moving new exhibition in Ankara to mark the anniversary.

We were happy that Yosun – who was one of our interpreters during the disaster response and who is now a valued member of our team - was able to attend the exhibition launch on behalf of Serve On.

Rescue volunteers from Serve On, K9 Search and Rescue NI and Anda Association at the opening of the AfetAI: Anadolu's History of Disasters and the February 6th Earthquakes at the Cer Modern, FLOW Digital Theatre Ankara

The AfetAI: Anadolu’s History of Disasters and the February 6th Earthquakes exhibition at the Cer Modern, FLOW Digital Theatre, explores the disaster history of Anatolia through AI-enhanced visualisations.

Historical events such as earthquakes, floods, fires, locust invasions, epidemics and famines are vividly brought to life using the latest technology.

It was great to be joined at the exhibition opening by Gabriel on behalf of K9 Search and Rescue NI who, like Portugal’s SAR Team, were embedded with Serve On during our deployment to Turkiye.