Türkiye suffered a devastating earthquake on February 6, 2023. The epicenter of this earthquake (7.8), was in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş. A second major earthquake (7.5) hit the region 9 hours later, causing significant further damage to already compromised buildings. The earthquake affected the neighboring provinces of Adıyaman, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Malatya, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Elazığ and Adana where about 14 million people reside. Aftershocks continue in the entire region to this day. The estimated death toll from this disaster exceeds 50,000 lives.

With our Aid Fund, we are trying to find and support NGOs working in the disaster area during this difficult time. We have provided funds to the NGOs listed below:

• İnisiyatif Merkezi Derneği: Breakfast, lunch and dinner were distributed to approximately 5000 people every day.
• Samandağ Gastronomi Derneği: Tent schools were established at the pre-school, elementary, middle and high school levels in three villages.
• Mutfak Sanatları Akademisi (through Hayata Destek Derneği)
• Hayata Destek Derneği: At least 100 food packages were distributed in the affected area.
• İstanbul Ekoloji Rotary Kulübü: Seeds were procured at a discounted price and then ditributed to local farmers.

Thank you to everyone for your trust in CTC and taking immediate action to support the initiative. We will continue to support the people in the disaster area.
CTC Team

Dear friends and family,
We as Capital Turkish Connections (capitaltc.org), a 501C not for profit organization registered in Washington, DC., is starting a fund raising campaign over Gofundme (https://gofund.me/f10ca0ff) to help relief and recovery efforts from recent earthquakes in Türkiye.
The goal of the initiative is to create new opportunities of support for the NGOs, International Organizations and government efforts as well as new avenues that don’t overlap with existing aid.
Our first stage involvement has been partnering with Cadena cadena.ngo/en/mexico-2/ and aiding to coordinate close to 100 volunteers in Turkey to join rescue and relief efforts in the earthquake affected areas.
​CTC has received a generous anchor donation of $100K and we are hoping to extend our impact beyond supporting current search and rescue teams.
We are also mobilizing the CTC network, more than 180 experts who worked on the previous initiative of CTC, “92 Propositions for a Better Turkey”. These are dedicated and well-connected ex-patriots and Turkish residents, each an expert in their own field.
We will be focusing on unique, longer term projects like;

• funding basic needs of colleagues from institutions like Harvard who volunteer to organize large-scale post-traumatic therapy support for children who lost their parents in the earthquake,
• establishing educational scholarships in Turkey, as well as abroad and
• employment and internship opportunities for youth via the CTC network,
• development of apps and other tech platforms to facilitate flow of emergency information, coordinate disaster relief and donations,

To extend the impact of our initiative, we invite a smaller group of friends and family to join us with donations and project suggestions.
As with our previous initiatives, CTC is committed to full transparency and complete documentation of all of expenses, along with regular impact reports.
Join us if you can, send positive energy and hope, regardless.