News

13 February 2023

Supporting our community in the face of devastation

It is with great sadness that we share an update on the ever-rising death tolls following the consecutive earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria. Since we first shared condolences and solidarity, the death toll has surpassed 33,000 lives lost. The devastation has reached a number of municipalities, including ICLEI Members. ICLEI invites its Members and partners in Europe and globally to pursue appropriate options to support those in Türkiye and Syria.

Providing support

Those looking for ways to support can consult the Turkish Association of Social Democratic Municipalities (SODEM), whose website has been tracking their 100+ members’ relief efforts on its website. Relief efforts focused on Syria have been collated by the White Helmets initiative.

ICLEI Member İzmir Metropolitan Municipality’s Solidarity Portal also features curated opportunities for individuals to support disaster relief initiatives like MovementOfHope and OneRentOneHome, or to contribute to a general donations campaign. Local governments looking for solidarity opportunities can contribute support directly to fellow ICLEI Members. Izmit, Edirne, Kadıköy and others are each leading campaigns to send food, clothing, and heating gear to the areas hit hardest by the earthquakes. If any local government is able to make a donation, please reach out to Emilie Doran, ICLEI Europe Coordinator of Membership Development and City Engagement at emilie.doran@iclei.org to be connected with our contacts in Turkish ICLEI Member Cities.

For our part, ICLEI is exploring opportunities for multi-level and multi-stakeholder collaborations to provide medium- and long-term technical support to its Members in Türkiye, which would leverage our existing leadership roles in campaigns and fora like Making Cities Resilient 2030.

International support and solidarity is crucial. As Tunc Soyer, Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Chair of SODEM, and member of ICLEI’s Global Executive Committee explains: “The situation is very difficult in the region hit by this enormous earthquake disaster. We need to join forces. Izmir has great energy and potential that shouldn’t be wasted. All our efforts are in this direction. Currently, 757 staff of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality are working in the earthquake zone. We will increase this number to 1,000 very soon. As the Mayor of Izmir – arguably Türkiye’s most experienced, prepared, and well-connected city on crisis management – I feel responsible for ensuring the coordination of efforts coming from a vast network of stakeholders. Let’s come together and be the solution.”


Staying up-to-date

Official coordination and updates on earthquake disaster relief and management efforts in Türkiye are provided by the Ministry of Interior Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD), as well as by the Turkish Union of Municipalities (TBB), and by civil society groups like AHBAP and AfetBilgi. The White Helmets initiative is also providing updates on the situation in Syria.

ICLEI has 18 members in Türkiye, all of which are mobilising their human, technical, and financial resources to contribute to national efforts. The best ways to follow the latest updates, and to support as appropriate, is to follow ICLEI Members’ official and mayoral Twitter accounts.

As Mayer Soyer concludes: “I look forward to support, collaboration and solidarity with ICLEI, together with its Members and all city networks in this unprecedented challenge and endeavour.”