Expats in Turkey urge those at home to send money as UK begins relief effort

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Britons in Turkey have urged people back home to send money as volunteers from the UK began rescuing people from the rubble left by the “brutal” earthquake. “Please give, if you don’t know anyone in Turkey just keep giving in the UK, it will still be needed – but if you know someone in Turkey get the money over here, tell them to go shopping for you.” More than 70 ISAR-UK volunteers are currently taking part in the rescue effort, and on Thursday, they tweeted to say they had recently managed to rescue two women, aged 60 and 90, from the rubble. “We just put in our applications, told people what we can do and we’ve been pushing to get in – now we can.” The first 7.8-magnitude quake hit the Turkish city of Gaziantep in the early hours of Monday, reducing thousands of homes and buildings across the south of the country and northern Syria to rubble as people slept. When asked how he would encourage Brits who might be struggling with the cost of living to donate to the appeal, Mr Saeed emphasised the “brutal” impact of the earthquake on people’s lives.