Türkiye suffered a devastating earthquake on February 6, 2023. The epicenter of this earthquake (7.8), was in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş.
A second major earthquake (7.5) hit the region 9 hours later, causing significant further damage to already compromised buildings.
The earthquake affected the neighboring provinces of Adıyaman, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Malatya, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Elazığ and Adana where about 14 million people reside.
Aftershocks continue in the entire region to this day. The estimated death toll from this disaster exceeds 50,000 lives.
With our Aid Fund, we are trying to find and support NGOs working in the disaster area during this difficult time.
We have provided funds to the NGOs listed below:
İnisiyatif Merkezi Derneği:
Breakfast, lunch and dinner were distributed to approximately 5000 people every day.
Samandağ Gastronomi Derneği:
Tent schools were established at the pre-school, elementary, middle and high school levels in three villages.
Mutfak Sanatları Akademisi
(through Hayata Destek Derneği).
Hayata Destek Derneği:
At least 100 food packages were distributed in the affected area.
İstanbul Ekoloji Rotary Kulübü:
Seeds were procured at a discounted price and then ditributed to local farmers.
Thank you to everyone for your trust in CTC and taking immediate action to support the initiative.
We will continue to support the people in the disaster area.
Capital Turkish Connections (capitaltc.org),
a 501(c) non-profit registered in Washington DC, launched a fundraising
campaign via GoFundMe
to support relief and recovery efforts following the earthquakes in Türkiye.
The goal is to create additional channels of support for NGOs, international
organisations and government programmes without duplicating existing work.
In the first phase, CTC partnered with
Cadena,
helping to coordinate close to 100 volunteers in Türkiye for rescue and
relief operations. CTC also received a major anchor donation of $100K and
seeks to extend its impact beyond immediate response.
The broader CTC network includes more than 180 experts who contributed to
the earlier initiative “92 Propositions for a Better Turkey”.
CTC plans to focus on longer-term projects such as:
supporting colleagues from institutions like Harvard who volunteer to
organise large-scale post-trauma therapy for children who lost parents
in the earthquakes;
creating educational scholarships in Türkiye and abroad;
developing employment and internship opportunities for young people
through the CTC network;
building digital tools and platforms to improve the flow of emergency
information and coordinate donations and disaster relief.
To increase impact, CTC invites a smaller group of friends and family to
join with donations and project ideas. As with previous initiatives, CTC
is committed to full transparency and detailed reporting of expenses and
outcomes.
Join if you can, and share hope and positive energy regardless.
Ferhan Salman delivered a TEDxIstanbul talk introducing CTC's mission and its
flagship initiative, “92 Proposals for a Better Turkey.” Watch the full presentation inside.
On 21 November 2015, CTC Co-Founder Ferhan Salman spoke at
TEDxIstanbul,
an event themed “Connecting the Dots”. He shared the story of Capital
Turkish Connections and described it as the birth of a “think and do” tank.
During the talk, he also introduced CTC’s first major project,
92 Proposals for a Better Turkey
,
developed by 100 volunteer experts over two years to outline reforms aimed
at helping Türkiye become a top-10 global economy within 20 years.
