Community of Turkish students, faculty at MUSC finds support in aftermath of earthquake

The Medical University of South Carolina’s Turkish community is rallying around faculty and doctoral students whose loved ones are struggling in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that was followed by an almost equally strong aftershock on Feb. 6. The death toll in Turkey has risen to more than 30,000 people. In neighboring Syria, about 6,000 people have died.

Onder Albayram, Ph.D., an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, lost members of his extended family. His parents survived, but he worries about them. They live in his hometown of Gaziantep. That’s the city closest to the quake’s epicenter in southern Turkey. Albayram’s parents are temporarily staying in a factory that withstood the earthquake, waiting for an inspection that will show whether their apartment building is safe to move back into.

 

Albayram calls his parents daily and stays in touch with friends who are keeping an eye on them. “I told my friends, ‘Never, ever tell my parents who passed away.’ They need to be stable. It’s been very traumatic for them. They haven't watched any news because it's very traumatic. And I tell them they should be patient, stay calm and so on. I mean, you survive, but lots of relatives passed away, and the weather is very tough. It’s the middle of winter.”

It's chilly in Hatay Province, too, southwest of Gaziantep, where MUSC doctoral student Kubra Calisir grew up. It’s in the Mediterranean region of Turkey and shares a border with Syria. The quake and its aftershock took a heavy toll there, too, leaving Calisir’s grandparents trapped under the rubble of a building until her aunt rescued them. 

Calisir’s parents moved quickly to help, driving 15 hours from western Turkey to pick up her grandparents and bring them to safety. They realized the elderly man and woman were seriously hurt and got help. “My grandparents are in a hospital in intensive care. They have breaks in their ribs, and they have lung ruptures because the ribs broke the lungs. So they are not in a good shape right now,” Calisir said.

Knowing that makes it even harder to be so far from home. Calisir’s first impulse was to travel to Turkey, but family and friends encouraged her to stay in Charleston and continue her studies at MUSC. 

“It's really sad. We need help. And people there need to feel that they are not alone. So that's what I am trying to do right now. Like, although I'm far away, I'm still with you. I didn’t sleep for three days. I'm just watching the news all the time and thinking what I can do for them. Not only just for my family but for all people suffering this.”

 

Having friends and mentors from Turkey at MUSC makes her feel a little less alone. That includes Besim Ogretmen, Ph.D., a biochemistry and molecular biology professor. He’s been at MUSC for more than 20 years. He said there’s a growing cadre of scientists from his country living in Charleston, drawn by the work being done at MUSC and the city’s charm.

“We have very talented researchers and clinical faculty at many levels, from graduate students to senior leaders at MUSC, from various regions of Turkey, with diverse backgrounds. When a tragedy like this devastating earthquake happens, all of us, as a part of the MUSC family, mobilize to help the victims in one way or another. We are so thankful that many friends and colleagues at MUSC and other institutions around the U.S. check with us to ask how our families are doing and how they can help,” Ogretmen said.

Fellow biochemistry and molecular biology professor Ozgur Sahin, Ph.D., is grateful for the support. His family was about 170 miles from earthquake’s epicenter, but that didn’t keep that area from shaking, too. “They came out, and they spent the night in a public school. There's a huge amount of snow in that region. It is really terrible,” he said.

“It is wintertime, and the aftermath is really bad. The people who survived will need a lot of accommodation, which is currently not available. That's why the motivation is really to help those people who survive – and they don't die of cold, you know?”

 

Sahin and other faculty members and students are raising money for those survivors. They encourage others to consider contributing to a thoroughly vetted charity, such as the Foundation of Anatolian People and Peace Platform, better known as AHBAP, or the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, aka AFAD. 

Meanwhile, there’s a fundraising web page for Calisir’s family. On it, she says about three-quarters of her family, including her injured grandparents, lost everything

But not all losses are physical. “I still can’t wrap my head around this disaster. That has been the worst of all,” said Turkish doctoral student Eda Karakaya.

“Despite telling myself that even if I had been in Turkey right now, there would not be much I can do; I just can’t stop thinking about it. Not long ago, on Nov. 22, my hometown of Zonguldak – on the Black Sea region – got hit by an earthquake as well, although it was not this big. What I had gone through that time, I am going through the same experience over and over again. And I just can’t shake the thought that my family, my people must live with this fear.” 

That fear is based in part on the fact that Turkey sits at the junction of three tectonic plates, raising its earthquake risk.

MUSC’s Turkish scholars and scientists will be closely watching as their home country recovers, doing what they can from Charleston. Calisir’s appeal on her fundraising page put it simply. “Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is all I can do to help my family at the moment. Thank you for taking the time to hear me out, and I thank you in advance for your help and support.”