“You forget everything at that moment and focus on saving a life”
He takes a deep breath and then begins to speak: “I wish the earthquakes had not hit, and I had never had this experience.”
The young man speaking is Muhammed Furkan Soyak, a volunteer interpreter of the 76-person Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Poland team in the earthquake area.
Muhammed Furkan Soyak, a volunteer interpreter of USAR Poland.
Soyak is a senior student at the Department of Translation and Interpretation at Bartın University. He got caught in the earthquake in Gaziantep, where he visited his grandmother. Fortunately, his grandmother’s house was solid; both survived the earthquake unharmed.
Right after making sure his relatives in Gaziantep were well, Soyaktook the first step to participate in rescue activities. He immediately applied to the Organisation for Emergency and Disaster Interpreters (ARÇ) of the Translation and Interpreting Association he saw on social media to act as an interpreter for the rescue teams from abroad. And the ARÇ, without wasting time, directed him to Gaziantep Airport to meet USAR Poland. This was Soyak's firstsearch and rescue experience.
He got along very well with the USAR Poland team.
They stayed in Besni at the request of the people
“We were going to Adıyaman from Gaziantep. But as we passed through Besni, the people blocked our way and said, ‘Please rescue our people.’ So we stayed in Besni with the approval of the relevant government agencies,” says Soyak.
The team of USAR Poland planned a rescue strategy after turning the stadium into a base in Besni, then they immediately set to work. He tells what happened next:
“It was freezing. There were many collapsed buildings. Fortunately, we saved a family of four and a woman on the first night. I spoke in person to the woman under the rubble. I asked her whether she was thirsty, whether she was cold, whether she was in pain. You forget everything at that moment and focus on saving a life. You want to give good news to families waiting outside. For example, when I told Ms Hatice's family that we had reached her, their gladness was worth seeing.”
The USAR Poland team saved 12 people.
‘It was a devastating moment’
Unfortunately, he could not always give happy news to families. “I had to tell a mother that there were no signs of life of her 25-year-old son in the wreckage; it was a devastating moment for me as well,” says Soyak with a trembling voice. He adds that it was hard to see people's desperation:
“I would have cried if I didn't always hold myself back there. I always said by myself, ‘Not now; you cry when you get back home.’”
It happened, as Soyak said; when he returned home, he cried sobbingly while watching the footage of the earthquake zone. For Soyak, it’s still not easy to speak on those eight days he accompanied the Polish team. But he speaks fondly of the people of Besni, especially Mustafa Durmuş and Barış Karaduman, who helped them. He also keeps in touch with the USAR Poland team, with whom he gets along very well.
The 76-person USAR Poland team was in Besni.
‘Besni is your second homeland’
In Besni, there is immense gratitude to the USAR Poland team, who saved 12 people. Mayor of Besni Municipality Eyüp Mehmet Emre bid them farewell with the following words: “You saved the people who were under the rubble, our brothers and loved ones. You gave our hope back to us when we lost it. Besni is your secondhomeland."
The Mayor of Besni Municipality gave his special thanks to the USAR Poland team.
Helping each other
Jakub Filip from USAR Poland team told AA correspondent his feelings while leaving Besni: “I've observed during our operations that people got a ring together to help others. I hope they will work together to build new places to live.”
The EU has supported Türkiye since day one.
The EU stood in full solidarity with the people of Türkiye
The European Union (EU) has supported Türkiye since day one and immediately sent humanitarian aid, research and rescue teams. Over 1,600 experts from 25 EU and partner countries, including Poland, worked in the earthquake zone. Field hospitals and temporary accommodation units were set up in the region. The support continues, including medical assistance, shelter, tent, bed, and food aid.
Emergency and Disaster Interpreters is a voluntary civil initiative under the Translation and Interpreting Association.