Solidarity with the earthquake victims
On 6 February, an earthquake shook Turkey and Syria. An overview of fundraising appeals in aid of earthquake victims, and where affected members of the ETH community can find psychological support.
In the early hours of 6 February, two earthquakes shook the border region between Turkey and Syria. More than a week after this devastating natural disaster, the number of victims is still rising. Thousands of people have lost their homes and are now in need of help.
"Several hundred people of Turkish or Syrian origin teach, learn and work at ETH Zurich," says Rector Günther Dissertori. "ETH would like to express its solidarity with them and all those who - in whatever way - have been affected by this catastrophe and would like to offer them the best possible support in this situation."
Support services for members of the ETH community
ETH students and employees who wish to receive psychological support in this difficult situation can reach out to various points of contact:
Students:
The external pagePsychological Counselling Services of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich offer psychological help. For further information, please contact the Student Services Counselling and Coaching Centre.
Employees:
Employees and supervisors can access a range of consulting, help and support in the event of personal stress. In addition, external specialists can be engaged for psychological counselling for employees.
Donation/fundraising appeals
The sheer number of victims and the extent of the destruction has seen immense solidarity around the world – and members of the ETH community are also extremely concerned. “Turkey and Syria currently find themselves in an absolutely dire emergency,” says Firuze-Ayça Katar from Turkuaz, the Turkish ETH student association. Turkuaz, which has been part of VSETH since 2020, aims to promote exchange between students and academics from Switzerland and Turkey and offers students with an immigration background support in their university education and professional careers.
Addressing the situation in the area hit by the earthquake, Katar encourages people to help: “It’s only with financial support from us that people in Turkey and Syria will be able to rebuild their daily lives as quickly as possible. We from the Turkuaz Association therefore ask members of the ETH community to contribute to the fundraising appeals that have been launched. Even a small donation can go a very long way.”
In Switzerland, both external pageSwiss Solidarity and the external pageSwiss Red Cross are collecting for the earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey. Turkuaz additionally mentions the aid organisations external pageAFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency Türkiye) and external pageFor Children Smile. The AVETH association of scientific staff has also posted a statement of solidarity on its website including information on fundraising and psychological support services.