Turkey’s film and TV production community is supplying financial aid and resources to the victims of the massive earthquakes that hit the country and neighbor Syria this week, as the death toll crossed the 5,000 mark.
Producers association Tesiyap has released a statement saying it is collecting aid and money from the country’s producers and ensuring this is delivered to earthquake victims “as soon as possible” via Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and non-profit organization AHBAP.
“The majority of our member producers shared with us that they took a break from the movie sets for a while to support their charity work,” read the statement in Turkish but that has been translated and independently verified by Deadline.
Major Turkish production companies such as MF Yapim and Medyapim shared the statement on social media. Mediapim and Ay Yapim also published a separate joint statement saying the premiere of a film they co-produced, scheduled for tonight, had been postponed to a later date.
One local producer told Deadline his shoot has been suspended for a week as his team carries out relief work.
Humanitarian efforts continue in Turkey and Syria as the number of fatalities rises and rescue workers desperately search for survivors. Nearly 6,000 buildings were destroyed in Turkey alone. The country has declared seven days of mourning.
According to the BBC, more than 5,000 have died following the two quakes yesterday that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria. A 7.8 magnitude quake hit while many were sleeping, followed by a 7.7 magnitude quake around 1.30pm local time. There are fears the death toll will rise even higher.
The likes of Doctors Without Borders, the Syrian American Medical Society and the White Helmets are collecting aid and donations.
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