Regina man coming to grips with impact of Turkish earthquake

A Regina man who grew up in the Turkish region hit hard by last week’s earthquake says at least 24 people he knows — including family members — lost their lives in the disaster.

Tolga Ates is originally from the city of Kahramanmaraş. It’s home to more than 1.1 million people and was one of the cities closest to the epicentre of the earthquake.

Most of those 24 people he knows who died are family members and now he’s trying to process what happened.

“When I see everything, I am so shocked,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going to say. Many people died — my family, my friends, my cousins.”

Some of the people he knows who died include his brother, his brother’s wife and their son.

His brother’s family was inside one of the many buildings that came crashing down after the earthquake.

While his brother, his wife and their son didn’t survive, Ates’ family got some good news last week when they learned one of his brother’s daughters was pulled out of the rubble alive.

“My cousin was crying,” Ates said, recalling the moment some of his family members learned of the news. “Everybody was really happy and I am so happy too. I saw some sad things, but then we get good news. We’re happy for the kid.”

Now that his brother’s daughter is safe, Ates is hopeful he can bring her to Regina so she can start a new life.

“I hope immigration is going to help us and get my brother’s daughter here,” Ates said. “If I can bring (her) here, it’s much better. I don’t know how I can bring (her) here, but I hope Canada immigration gives us a chance.”

With it now being a week since the earthquake hit, Ates mentioned it has been easier to connect with family members in Turkey.

But he says people in that country are still struggling as they cope with the devastation left by the earthquake and dealing with cold temperatures.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks hit southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6. To date, the deaths of more than 35,000 people have been verified.