The family of two Aberdeen Turkish barbers are sleeping in a tent after their home was destroyed by an earthquake.
Brothers Dogan and Fikri Arslan have been living in Aberdeen for 19 years, but still have parents, sisters and cousins in Turkey.
Their families live near the city of Kahramanmaras which was devastated by the earthquake on February 6.
It was in the centre of the disaster and reportedly around half of the buildings were destroyed.
More than 42,000 people are known to have died.
The cousins of the Arslan brothers have been left “living a hell life” after their home was destroyed by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake.
They are sleeping in a makeshift tent, and due to the high altitude, temperatures can drop to as low as -19C at night.
Family left in freezing conditions
Fikri, 46, who owns the Ace of Blades barber shop on Holburn Street, tells of how their parents had to sleep in their car the night after the quake which he described as “horrendous”.
Most of the roads had been blocked by snow, which made it difficult for them to receive help.
Dogan, 42, who owns the Ace of Blades 2 barber shop in Inverurie said: “I don’t think people realise how bad it was. An area bigger than Portugal has been affected.
“We have had tiny earthquakes before, but the last time we had something this bad was 1,000 years ago.”
Due to the infrequency of serious earthquakes, most buildings in the area were not built to withstand them.
The United Nations said 5.3 million people could become homeless across Turkey.
Earthquakes still continuing
The quakes are not over yet either.
Fikri said: “Most people have left the area just now, but I have an app on my phone which alerts me if there are more.
“There were a few tremors just this morning. My parents’ house is cracked, it is still not safe to go into it.”
The brothers say “so many” friends have died, but there have been no family members. But one cousin and his wife were taken to hospital.
Brother missed quake by nine hours
Dogan only narrowly missed the disaster himself. He travelled to Istanbul only nine hours before it began to catch a flight to Aberdeen.
“It is not a good feeling that your city has been destroyed”, he said.
“You can only imagine what life is like there right now.”
The brothers are members of Aberdeen’s Turkish Education and Culture Trust.
Immediately after the disaster, the organisation arranged for donations to be put onboard a Turkish Airlines flight to drop off supplies.
However, organisers are now saying due to the response, they no longer require clothes or supplies. Instead, they are asking people to donate money to help people rebuild.
To get involved in the campaign, follow the Aberdeen Turkish Education and Culture Trust on Facebook.
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