On Friday, 17 February, a team from SAT-7 TÜRK went to the area affected by the disastrous earthquake on 6 February to inform Turkish-speaking Christian viewers in Türkiye and around the world regarding the physical and mental status of people in the area and to document the latest status of the Christian cultural heritage.
The team coordinated interviews with churches and Christian citizens as well as aid organisations active in the area and collected both documentary footage and stories. Our General Manager, Melih Ekener, who travelled with the team, emphasised the importance of recording and documenting what is happening now.
However, while they were having a lunch break in Adana on Monday, another earthquake struck. “Earthquakes happen without any warning, so we couldn’t run or do anything else, and so we felt emotional distress. Now we can put ourselves in the shoes of those who experienced what happened,” said Melih. So, the team decided to travel back to Istanbul.
The team testified to the enormous scale of the disaster, but they could also see how much the churches were helping the relief effort on the ground. They plan to return in three weeks’ time to visit three more cities.