Türkiye and Syria earthquake – reflections from Islington
Christians on the Left vice chair and Islington councillor Heather Staff reflects on the tragic events in Türkiye and Syria and their impact closer to home.
We read in Romans 12:15 that we should “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep”, or as The Message translation says, “laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down”.
It is a call for empathy, not just sympathy. Often when tragedy strikes it can feel distressing but remote, leaving us unsure how to respond; with so many painful events over the past years, it can leave us at risk of compassion fatigue.
For many of us, though, the devastating earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria last week was not just a catastrophic event affecting another country, but something deeply impacting those in our communities, and our friends and family.
According to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), over 35,000 people have died and many thousands are injured in Türkiye and Syria. They estimated that over 17 million people have been affected and are in need of shelter, food and medical aid.
Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay has warned that millions of people will be displaced as a result of the earthquakes last week. As many as 5.3 million people in Syria may have been left homeless, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sivanka Dhanapala. “
As a councillor for Laycock ward in Islington, many of my constituents and residents across the borough have personal links to the regions affected. It has been heart-breaking to learn of those who have lost loved ones and hearing of friends and family without shelter or supplies. Both my fellow ward councillors are Kurdish and have become family to me; they are deeply affected by what has happened and it has been hard to see their pain and the pain of those in our ward suffering. Despite their pain my colleagues have shown immense courage and fortitude to keep reaching out to the local community. I cannot count the number of times we have visited a local coffee shop to talk and comfort people, or point people to the help they need.
Last week, as I walked to meet my co-councillors, a child with a family in front of me dropped a large stuffed toy – a rabbit to be exact. I picked it up, ran after the family and gave it to the dad. He suddenly hugged me and broke down. It turned out they had just made it from Türkiye to London. The large cuddly rabbit was the only toy the little girl had still. I’m not afraid to admit I cry quite often after hearing people’s stories - there is a standing joke that Team Laycock is often ‘Lamentations Laycock’ because of all the crying we do – but this truly broke me. It felt like what had been a remote disaster had really come home.
Yet there is also hope: hope found in compassion, and hope met in caring for each other.
As local councillors, we are community champions, and my ward councillor and I are migrants’ champions for Islington borough. But caring and championing the community when people are in pain is also about finding a common humanity that goes beyond just shedding tears. It points to hope and to action even in grief.
I am extremely grateful for the response of our councillors, executive leads and council leader in demonstrating practical action as well as empathy and solidarity with our Turkish, Kurdish and Syrian communities. It can be extremely hard to know how to respond, how to balance tears with practical action. They are listening to the community, working with local organisations and faith groups to support those in need at this time.
This has included sharing practical information like the FCDO advice line, meeting local organisations providing trauma response and also working with local mosques and others fundraising. It also includes thinking about national demands around visa extensions for those whose visas are expiring in the UK but now have no home in Türkiye, expediting visas for those awaiting decisions to come to the UK, and even considering if the Syrian resettlement scheme should be opened again.
For anyone wondering what they can do to help, I would encourage you to offer community to those who need someone right now, even if its just being a sounding board or pointing to trauma support. Events like these are distressing and can be triggering.
We can also write to our MPs to ask for continued pressure to make sure aid gets to those who need it, such as the Kurdish areas in Türkiye and seeing humanitarian corridors open in Syria. We can pray for those affected and also for the agencies responding to the disaster and help practically if you can and above all, continue to have grace for each other. As believers I hold firm to us being one body; so we do mourn with those who mourn right now, just as at other times as we laugh with those who laugh.
You can donate to the DEC appeal here
Anyone in Turkey and in need of urgent help should call +90 312 455 3344. Anyone in the UK concerned about relatives or friends should call the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in London on 020 7008 5000.
