Salisbury fundraiser for Turkey earthquake victims raises £3,200

A team assembled in Salisbury city centre outside The Hair Extension Cave on Tuesday, February 21. 

They were selling Turkish pastries and cakes and managed to raise £3,200. 

Nazan Ketencimen, a microblading specialist who works at The Hair Extension Cave, said: "It went really well, the money we raised will be split between two villages, one for our friend who lives in Adıyaman, his family has lost everything, and the other for an employee who works in Jenney's in the Maltings who has family in Gaziantep. 

"They have lost their homes and we are trying to help provide shelter." 

READ MORE: Town centre Post Office opens after two and a half years

Nazan, who moved to Salisbury from Cappadocia in Turkey in 1997, said she wanted to do something to help after watching the devastation unfold. 

The 31-year-old said: "We are all very upset - and the earthquakes have not stopped. The public has been very supportive and generous. Our friends have been amazing.

"We are planning on holding another sale soon. I am trying to do my part and help in any way."  

They hope to hold another fundraiser, selling Turkish bakes, on March 4 - depending on permission being granted. 

Nazan said that people should get in touch with her at the Hair Extension Cave if they would like to help. 

The first earthquakes jolted Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing nearly 46,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. 

Another deadly tremor - a 6.4 magnitude earthquake - struck on Monday evening in the Defne district of Turkey’s Hatay province – one of the areas worst affected by the inital 7.8 quake. 

Turkey’s AFAD disaster management authority said the new quake killed six people and injured 294 others, including 18 who were in critical condition.

SEE ALSO: Rising costs and 'challenging market conditions' force Musicroom closure

About 13.5 million people live in Turkey’s 11 quake-hit provinces, where authorities said more than 139,000 buildings were either destroyed or so severely damaged they need to be torn down.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 865,000 people were living in tents as of Tuesday. Some 270 tent cities have been set up in the affected provinces, and winter weather added to the suffering of displaced citizens.

The majority of deaths in the February 6 quake, which was followed by a magnitude 7.5 tremor nine hours later, were in Turkey, where at least 42,310 people died, according to the disaster management agency.