ISKENDERUN, Turkey - An Orthodox church in Turkey’s Hatay province has opened its doors to the victims of the earthquake, providing hot meals for the thousands whose lives have been shaken.
At the church, three meals a day are prepared for around 5,000 people.
Christians and Muslims of the region gather at the 450-year-old historical church. In Iskenderun, a number of historic churches and mosques were destroyed or damaged by the earthquake.
"Since the first day of the earthquake, we have been cooking food for the victims in the yard of this church,” Can Teymur, Chairman of the Orthodox Community Foundation in Hatay, told Rudaw on Sunday. He added that numerous teams of cooks had arrived from Istanbul to lend a helping hand.
The donations that come from other cities are distributed to this church for those impacted by the devastating quake. A number of volunteer cooks who have come from various locations in Turkey are there to help.
Hilal Tayfun is a volunteer chef who has come from Bodrum city to the quake-devastated Iskenderun to help the affected people.
“We cook four types of food here. We serve people. We prepare and deliver ready-made packages to the victims out there,” he said.
In addition to local Christians, around 3,000 Romanian Christians also live in Iskenderun. The church is open not only to Christians but to all religions, nations, and sects.
The support and help between Christians and Muslims in Iskenderun is also a good example of coexistence and harmony, according to Mehmet Aslan, a member of the Alawite Arab Community in Hatay.
A destructive earthquake devastated southern Turkey and parts of Syria on February 6, killing over 46,000 people in both countries and leaving hundreds of thousands injured and homeless.
