Turkish community in Southern Nevada copes with tragedy a world away
Deniz Özulu plays with her granddaughter in the living room of their Las Vegas home. Her granddaughter’s laughter is filling the noise the television once provided. Ever since the 7.8 earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey near the border with Syria in the early morning Feb. 6, Özulu has been taking breaks from consuming the news because seeing the death and destruction in her former home is mentally draining.
She said her cousins were able to make it out safely, but the homes they lived in were completely destroyed. More than 40,000 people have died — about 35,000 in Turkey; at least 5,800 in Syria — and Özulu simply can’t tolerate seeing footage of emergency workers frantically attempting to reach residents trapped under the rubble.
“We cannot turn on the TV because it is very stressful,” Özulu said. “I’m playing with her, I’m dancing with her, I’m sleeping with her. After they left, I’m always watching TV, and next morning my blood pressure is very high — I need to know what’s going on.”
The earthquake hit the Kahramanmaraş area in southwest Turkey around 4 a.m., when many citizens were still asleep. The impact leveled buildings and destroyed communities all the way across the border in northern Syria.
In the initial days after the disaster, Özulu was frantic because she couldn’t contact her family. She would flip through the television coverage hoping to spot them to verify they were still alive.
After a few days of around-the-clock worrying, she received word that everyone was accounted for — a huge relief.
She said her cousins, like many of the Turkish survivors, are living in their cars while determining what they will do next or where to go. To make matters worse, more than 100 aftershocks have been reported in the past week.
“They are so scared,” Özulu said. “They are always afraid from shaking because lots of earthquake (aftershocks) are happening still.”
For Vicdan Kittelson, who was born in Turkey and moved to Las Vegas in 2015, the destruction brought on by the earthquake was a painfully familiar sight. She lived through a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the Kocaeli Province of Turkey in 1999 that killed about 18,000 people and brought much carnage.
“In 1999, they had the same problem,
but it wasn’t this bad,” Kittelson said. “There would be a couple buildings standing, then one collapsed, a couple buildings standing, two collapsed; this time, it’s like whole city blocks were leveled.”
Kittelson said it broke her heart to see buildings with such rich archaeological and cultural history flattened to nothing during the earthquake this month.
Antakya, one of the cities hit hardest, was the site of ancient churches, mosques, monasteries and historical buildings reminiscent of the many civilizations who called it home — the ancient Greeks, Romans, Crusaders and Ottomans.
Additionally, Kurtuluş Street — the first illuminated street in the world — was completely leveled.
Kittelson’s sister’s family, still living in Turkey, could feel the earthquake at their home in Side — a resort city on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast — but weren’t injured and their property wasn’t harmed. They quickly gathered blankets and other supplies to give to the displaced Turks.
Las Vegans are also helping with relief efforts. UNLV’S Turkish community created a fundraiser to support the Bridge to Türkiye, which provides food, water and housing to earthquake survivors. Donations can be made through tinyurl.com/ turkeyquakelv.