Turkey earthquake: Community kitchen near epicentre helps provide local dishes for people left homeless

Published

3 years ago

March 10, 2023

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The aftermath of two powerful earthquakes which rocked Turkey and Syria has left many people homeless and exacerbated the risk of a widespread food and nutrition crisis, charities say.

Many were forced to live in cars and temporary tents, with no access to basic amenities such as showers or toilets, after the quake and its aftershocks last month destroyed, or catastrophically damaged, at least 156,000 buildings in Turkey and killed more than 50,000 people across Turkey and Syria.

Charities rushed to provide hot meals, loaves of bread and fresh water.

Among them, Action Against Hunger – which is supported by the Disaster Emergencies Committee – distributed ready-to-eat rations sourced from nearby cities including canned chickpeas, chicken, tuna, vegetables and fruit in disaster hotspots in southeast Turkey. Overall, Action Against Hunger has supplied 2,500kg of dry food and nearly 2,000kg of fresh food.

But while the food baskets are vital in helping survivors keep their strength up and stay healthy, they do not always contain food typically consumed by people in the region.

In the town of Beyoglu, near the southern city of Kahramanmaras and close to the epicentres of the tremors, Action Against Hunger helped set up a kitchen to provide local dishes and fresh food in a community centre next to a football field where people are camping after losing their homes.

The kitchen also helps people rebuild their sense of community in a time of crisis, says Ana Mora Segura, a spokesperson for Action Against Hunger who has been in Turkey since the earthquake struck.

She tells Sky News: “The places people have known their whole lives are either damaged or gone, which is very disruptive, so being able to get together and act on their own to provide for themselves is the first step of rebuilding the community.”

The kitchen has been providing 3,000 people a day with meals containing ingredients typically found in the Mediterranean diet, including fresh foods and local dishes containing oil, olives, yoghurt, fruit, vegetables and grains.

It also provides a sense of reassurance for those still suffering from the disaster.

“For me, this community kitchen provides us with security, because we know we’re getting hot food at a certain time every day and aid on a regular basis,” says one 20-year-old Turkish man who has been staying in the tents and using the kitchen since the earthquake.

“We also feel very safe in the tents because of the security forces in the area.”

Providing local food gives people sense of normality

While the foods found in a typical relief kit are much appreciated by those affected by the emergency, providing local foods has helped give people a sense of normality, says Cristina Izquierdo, the nutrition and health coordinator for Action Against Hunger’s emergency team.

“These are some of the most resilient people,” she tells Sky News. “Some people bring everything they have to others… That sense of supporting each other really brings hope.

“People are grateful for the fact they are alive and are ready to support their community.”

The community centre also supports displaced people in other ways, through donated clothes, heaters and hygiene items such as sanitary pads, soap, baby wipes and nappies.

‘I have work to do here’

One of the volunteers in the kitchen is Akif, who, as news of the disaster spread, heard help was needed urgently in Beyoglu, where a large number of houses were destroyed.

Leaving his restaurant in Soke, a city on Turkey’s Aegean coast, he travelled with his friends to help set up the community kitchen.

“My friends tell me to come back home, but my family is safe, that’s why I came,” Akif says. “I have work to do here.”

Akif and other volunteers also prepared packages to distribute in the nearby mountain villages and to families that have stayed near their collapsed homes.

Rebuilding a sense of community in a time of crisis

Ms Izquierdo says people were “very humble” and initially only asked for rice, but they were then asked about their local diet and the items they would like to see the charity help provide, including fresh food and vegetables, but also products for children such as yoghurt and other dairy products.

A range of dishes have been served, such as Turkish rice with sehriye, a type of pasta similar to vermicelli, and chickpea and tomato soup.

But Action Against Hunger warns the risk of widespread food insecurity has soared in the aftermath of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, with access to food becoming even more difficult than it was before the disaster as many people have lost their homes, jobs and livelihoods. People in Syria also have to contend with the ongoing effects of the country’s 12-year civil war on top of the damage wrought by the earthquake.

World

Pope Leo urges Donald Trump not to try to oust Venezuelan president by force

Published

2 hours ago

December 2, 2025

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Pope Leo urges Donald Trump not to try to oust Venezuelan president by force

The Pope has urged Donald Trump not to try to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro using military force.

Leo, the first American pontiff, said it would be better to attempt dialogue or impose economic pressure on Venezuela if Washington wants to pursue change there.

The Trump administration has been weighing options to combat what it has portrayed as Mr Maduro’s role in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans.

The socialist Venezuelan president has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.

Asked during a news conference about President Trump’s threats to remove Mr Maduro by force, the Pope said: “It is better to search for ways of dialogue, or perhaps pressure, including economic pressure.”

He added that Washington should search for other ways to achieve change “if that is what they want to do in the United States”.

The Pope was speaking as he flew home from a visit to Turkey and Lebanon – his first overseas trip in the role.

Mr Maduro has said Venezuelans are ready to defend their country as the US considers a land attack.

The president held a rally in Caracas amid heightened tensions with Mr Trump’s administration, which has been targeting what it says are boats carrying drug smugglers.

Mr Trump met his national security team on Monday evening, having warned last week that land strikes would start “very soon”.

It’s not been confirmed what was discussed at the meeting, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: “There’s many options at the president’s disposal that are on the table – and I’ll let him speak on those.”

US forces have carried out at least 21 strikes on boats it claims were carrying narcotics to its shores over the last few months.

Mr Maduro – widely considered a dictator by the West – said on Monday that Venezuelans are ready “to defend [the country] and lead it to the path of peace”.

“We have lived through 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism,” he said.

Venezuela has said the boat attacks, which have killed more than 80 people, amount to murder – and that Mr Trump’s true motivation is to oust Mr Maduro and access its oil.

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Maduro says Venezuela ready to defend itself as US considers potential land attack

Published

2 hours ago

December 2, 2025

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Maduro says Venezuela ready to defend itself as US considers potential land attack

Nicolas Maduro has said Venezuelans are ready to defend their country as the US considers a land attack.

The president held a rally in Caracas amid heightened tensions with Donald Trump’s administration, which has been targeting what it says are boats carrying drug smugglers.

Mr Trump met his national security team on Monday evening, having warned last week that land strikes would start “very soon”.

US forces have carried out at least 21 strikes on boats it claims were carrying narcotics to its shores over the last few months, and the White House has accused Mr Maduro of being involved in the drugs trade – a claim he denies.

‘Psychological terrorism’

Mr Maduro – widely considered a dictator by the West – said on Monday that Venezuelans are ready “to defend [the country] and lead it to the path of peace”.

“We have lived through 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism,” he said.

Venezuela has said the boat attacks, which have killed more than 80 people, amount to murder – and that Mr Trump’s true motivation is to oust Mr Maduro and access its oil.

Concerns have been raised over the legality of the US attacks, which the Pentagon has sought to justify by designating the gangs as foreign terror organisations.

Controversy over US strikes

Tensions remain high over America’s large deployment in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, which includes its flagship aircraft carrier and thousands of troops.

The US has released videos of boats being blown up but has not provided evidence – such as photos of drugs – to support the smuggling claims.

Controversy also surrounds the first incident, on 2 September, in which 11 people were killed – with a follow-up strike targeting the boat after the first attack left two survivors in the water.

US media reported defence secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order that everyone on board should be killed.

However, there are concerns about the legality of the second strike if the survivors posed no threat.

Mr Hegseth dismissed the reporting as “fake news” and insisted all actions in the region are compliant with US and international law.

“Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization,” he said on X.

Mr Trump said on Sunday he would not have wanted a second strike and that Mr Hegseth had denied giving such an order.

Ms Leavitt confirmed on Monday that the boat had been hit by a second strike – but denied Mr Hegseth gave the order for the follow-up.

Instead, she said he had authorised US navy vice admiral Frank Bradley to attack, and the admiral acted “well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the US was eliminated”.

As the US weighs its next steps, Mr Trump said on Sunday he had spoken to Mr Maduro by phone and that the conversation went neither “well or badly”.

In recent days, he also stated that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered closed – with the South American nation calling it a “colonial threat” and “illegal, and unjustified aggression”.

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Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan healthy but isolated in jail, his sister says

Published

2 hours ago

December 2, 2025

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Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan healthy but isolated in jail, his sister says

Imran Khan is suffering from isolation, his sister said, after weeks of not being able to see his family.

Khan has been in jail since his August 2023 arrest after he was handed a three-year jail term for illegally selling state gifts.

Uzma Khanum was the only family member permitted to meet him in Adiala jail, Rawalpindi, where supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had gathered to protest against conditions of the 73-year-old’s detention.

Ms Khanum said that Khan, a former cricketer, is facing isolation and psychological strain in prison following weeks in which his family said access had been blocked.

“He’s physically well,” said Ms Khanum, one of Khan’s three sisters. “But he’s kept inside all the time, and only goes out for a short while. There’s no contact with anybody.”

The meeting took place under strict supervision, said Ms Khanum, though she declined to provide further details.

PTI says routine prison visits have been blocked for weeks despite court orders, fuelling rumours about his condition and possible prison transfers.

Authorities deny any mistreatment, and say that Khan is receiving all entitlements available to prisoners.

Khan served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

He has claimed that the charges against him are politically motivated – and aimed at blocking his political career.

Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, is serving time in the same prison over corruption, but they are not allowed to see each other except when they appear in court, his supporters have said.