OTSA Board Plea for Support to the Victims of the Turkey-Syria Earthquakes

The Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association issues a plea for support and solidarity with those affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck southeastern Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023. Already in these early stages the loss of life and number of wounded is immense, totaling in the tens of thousands. Expert projections and reports from the ground suggest the end result may be even more staggering. As an organization, our hearts are with our colleagues in Turkey and Syria, and their extended families and loved ones who are experiencing incredible pain at this time. As scholars of Turkish and Ottoman history, culture, and society who have relied on the goodwill of the people across Turkey and Syria to do our work, and especially in the affected regions which are frequent sites of study thanks to their rich tapestries of human history and experience that extend back millennia into the past, our hearts are broken to witness the scale of destruction over the last week. It is clear, at this point, that this crisis deserves as much attention and aid as international society can muster. To that end, we urge our members, audiences, and associated societies and scholars to engage in efforts to fund relief to the victims. Appended to this statement, you may find a list of relief organizations in the United States, in Turkey, and those that to the best of our knowledge are doing reputable work to aid victims in Syria.

Relief Organizations: Turkish Philanthropy Fund; Ahbap; AKUT; Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Yurtdışı Topluluğu; Research Institute on Turkey; Middle East Technical University Alumni Association; International Orthodox Christian Charities; Syrian-American Medical Society; Oxfam; UNHCR; Action For Humanity; Nuday Syria; Molham; Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Emergency Relief Fund; Unicef; Assyrians without Borders; UNICEF; Heyva Sor.

The Board will consider adding further suggestions to the list of organizations on this page as they arise so that OTSA remains as inclusive as possible.