A Scots family have been left devastated after finding out family members have been killed following the earthquake in Turkey, with others left homeless.
Fatma Isik, 41, came to Edinburgh from Elbistan in the east of the country 18 years ago. The mum-of-two now lives in Granton in the capital with her husband Murat, 46, and their two sons Jiyan, 10 and Sidar, 16.
Another 6.4 magnitude tremor struck the city of Antakya near the border with Syria on Monday after massive earthquakes devastated both countries on February 6. As reported by Edinburgh Live, the family have been distressed watching their home country get destroyed while being limited on how much they can help from Scotland.
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.
"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.
Fatma said: "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, who is "usually so lively but is now always on edge".
"He listens to us but his mind is somewhere else", said Fatma.
"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.
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 from the fundraiser will be sent to support these three families affected who have lost their homes. You can find out more and donate by clicking here.
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