An Edinburgh family are distraught after finding out several relatives have been left homeless or killed after Turkey was struck by a number of earthquakes leaving thousands dead.
Fatma Isik, 41, came to Edinburgh from Elbistan, Turkey 18 years ago and now lives in Granton with her husband Murat, 46, and two sons Jiyan, 10 and Sidar, 16 who attend local schools in the area.
On Monday, February, 20, a 6.4 magnitude tremor struck the city of Antakya near the border with Syria, where massive earthquakes devastated both countries on 6 February.
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The family have been severely distressed watching their home country get destroyed while being limited with how much they can help from Scotland.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Fatma said: "Many of my family live in Turkey, I have managed to reach out to my dad and my husband's family and some friends but nobody is doing well.
"My husband's family have had to move and on Monday there was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that hit the area again."
The mum said: "My brother-in-law lived in his car for four days with his wife and 15-year-old son in Iskenderun and then moved to Eskisehir to stay in his sister's flat.
"There are nine people living in that flat, including my 15-year-old nephew who has watched many of his school friends die. He is anxious and depressed and doesn't know what will happen now."
There are now three families living in the flat, Fatma's sister-in-law, her husband and their three children, her parents-in-law and her brother-in-law with his son.
Sadly their 21-year-old cousin and uncle died during the earthquake and their wife and mum was left badly injured.
She continued: "My mother-in-law is 70 years old and lives in the house too. She keeps having nervous breakdowns and is trying to deal with losing many family members while adjusting to being homeless.
"His mother is still very unwell so we can't always speak to her but we can check in with family members. They don't have a house anymore.
"My brother-in-law's wife and son managed to escape but have other injuries and are in critical condition. He doesn't know if they will survive and nothing is guaranteed because the earthquake is still happening.
"They had to move across the country to escape, they have no personal belongings or possessions anymore only their lives to escape with."
She continued "The crisis is so bad nobody knows what to do next. They are just waiting and losing hope every day. My husband is trying to help his family but we can't go to them because it isn't safe.
"We haven't slept for days and have been up all night worried sick. I couldn't breathe seeing the pictures of the debris."
"My neighbours here in Granton have offered to help, Anna suggested a GoFundMe and after that, I felt the first glimmer of hope for weeks.
"I can finally do something to help. My kids understand what is going on too.
"They are both really worried and scared, they want to do something to help their cousins and my ten-year-old was asking his friends in primary school for donations."
It has hit all of the family hard especially Fatma's husband Murat.
"My husband is usually so lively and loves his kids so much but now he is always on edge. He listens to us but his mind is somewhere else.
"His mother is in and out of the hospital and we don't know if she will make it. I just wish we could do more" She said.
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Many of Fatma's friends back home have been affected including one family who is staying in student accommodation with their disabled son with no water.
She said: "My friend's house has been damaged badly. They had to stay in a shed for 10 days with very limited or no water at all, and now they went to a city called Konya to stay in student accommodation temporarily."
"They were poor already, and one of his children has Down syndrome. I would like to raise money to help him.
"My other friend Esme Capar stayed in a tent for 11 days in Golbasi and now she is moving to Alanya to stay at her friends' house temporarily. She doesn't know what to do next."
Any money raised will be sent to support these three families affected who have lost their homes. You can find out more and donate to the fundraising page here.
If you or someone you know has been affected or have seen people helping from the capital let us know at iona.young@reachplc.com or news@edinburghlive.com
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