Beyond the death toll, millions of people have been injured and displaced. The United Nations said that the earthquake had affected as many as 5.3 million in Syria alone. And for Turkey, the situation is all too familiar: Turkey sits atop two major fault lines and has suffered major earthquakes before. In 1999, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake was blamed for an estimated 18,000 deaths.

Complicating the current crisis is the fact that the area of Northern Syria impacted by the earthquake has been riven by violence for the past decade due to the county’s ongoing civil war. The war, which grew out of the wider Arab Spring protests of 2011, has left northern sections of the country in the hands of rebels opposed to Bashar al-Assad, the country’s leader.

To shed light on the complexities of this ongoing catastrophe, Fordham News spoke with experts in international humanitarian aid, the Middle East, and mental health.

Politics and Aid

Anjali Dayal, Ph.D., associate professor of political science and a senior scholar in residence at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C.

The aid situation in Syria is deeply dependent on United Nations Security Council politics because the region in Syria that was hardest hit has been part of complex international negotiations about the passage of aid. The U.N. is an intergovernmental organization, and under the terms of the U.N. Charter, the Syrian government has ultimate authority over the area–but the northwest part of the country remains locked in an ongoing civil war, where the Syrian government’s authority is contested on the ground. The politics of U.N. aid passing into this part of Syria have become really complicated, as a result.

Over the years, the negotiations in the Security Council, where Russia has veto power, narrowed down the number of open crossings to a single one in northwest Syria, Bab al-Hawa, which was badly hit by this earthquake.

Thankfully, after a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that the Syrian government has agreed to allow two more border crossings between Syria and Turkey to open up for three months [to allow for]  humanitarian relief to the earthquake-struck zones.

This is important because it means that the international community [including the U.N.]  can get aid to a part of Syria [run by the anti-al-Assad rebels]  where the Syrian government is more than happy to let people die. There are local organizations on the ground that cross through other crossings, but nobody really has the scale or reach that the U.N. does for the volume of aid that’s necessary at this moment in particular. That’s why this has become so contentious.

So a huge crisis like this really highlights how important it is to have concerted multilateral abilities to respond right away in the service of people who really need the best assistance that they can get.

Consequences of Corruption and Civil War

Melissa Labonte, Ph.D., associate professor of political science and a faculty affiliate of Fordham’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs

I would describe this as sort of a tale of two humanitarian crisis responses. In Turkey, you have a capable state, but it’s a state that is sclerotic and has been plagued by corruption. Anyone who has traveled to Turkey in the last few years has seen huge construction projects that have been doled out as political favors to loyalists of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP party. You have buildings that have not been built to code, in areas that are very close to the fault lines. This was a recipe for disaster.

The other is Syria, where prior decisions stemming from the Civil War mean that in an area with about 11 million people in it, more than half are internally displaced persons from other parts of Syria.
Most people understand that the Syrian Civil Defense Force, or “white helmets,” have been working in this area for a really long time with very little assistance from the outside world.

You’ve got millions of people who are now living in structures that were decimated by the war. They have no food, no shelter, no medicine, and no water. It’s that last element that is going to turn that part of the post-earthquake crisis into one where the death toll is going to start to mount catastrophically. Because what’s going to happen next is there’ll be a massive outbreak of cholera.

As an international community, we have to come to the recognition that things are so deeply interconnected. Our failure to deal with crises like Syria and our failure to cultivate a more responsive democracy in Turkey are the antecedent conditions that lead to the inability or the unwillingness of regimes to respond effectively to their populations.

‘Recovery Will Take Time’: The Importance of Ongoing Donations

Selin Gülgöz, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology who lived in Istanbul from 1993 until 2009, when she moved to the United States for graduate school. Her family still lives there today.

Istanbul wasn’t affected directly by this earthquake, but we did live through the major earthquake back in 1999, where the epicenter was a little bit outside of the city. I was very fortunate at that time that our family was unaffected, but it’s hard to remain unaffected even if your close ones are not hurt. I was 11 at the time, so it was quite traumatizing.

It’s estimated that this earthquake has impacted roughly 15 million people. Turkey as a whole country has about 80 million. So that’s a huge percentage of the population.

Most of my efforts so far have been trying to raise awareness of some of the local organizations that have been there from day one, and are often faster than governmental organizations.

There are two that have a proven record of trust and professionalism, are reliable, fast-acting, and have networks in Turkey on the ground: Turkish Philanthropy’s Turkish Earthquake Relief Effort; and Bridge to Turkiye’s Earthquake Relief Fund.

Right now, 30,000 people have died and the number is expected to rise. Even more have been displaced, including children who have lost their families, so monthly contributions are encouraged, as healing and recovery will take time.

An Event That Affects the Whole Region

Samantha Slattery, FCRH ’15, GSAS ’19, Regional Programmes Officer for Jesuit Refugee Service in Beiruit, Lebanon. Slattery earned an M.S. in humanitarian studies at Fordham.

I work with projects addressing the crisis in Lebanon, which has the highest refugee population per capita in the world. Our office supports JRS teams in Syria in Aleppo and Homs, and right now they’re helping with emergency distributions, especially winterization materials because it’s very cold here right now. Anyone who wants to help our teams can do so by donating here.

The difficulty that all organizations are experiencing right now in Syria is that a lot of aid workers and volunteers there have also already experienced multiple traumas from the war. Now they’ve survived this earthquake, and many have suffered their own personal losses.

In Lebanon, the earthquake woke us up from our sleep here, and luckily, it missed us. But people are still affected here. So many of the people we work with have lost loved ones in Aleppo. It affects the whole region.

A concern that I have is that international attention could wane. Right now there’s a big effort from the international community to respond to these crises, but once crises become protracted, the eyes of the world look away to new emergencies.

Focusing on Mental Health

Lynne Jones, child psychiatrist and course director for the program on Mental Health in Complex Emergencies at Fordham’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs

I hope that this will shake people into their senses and realize that human beings are human beings, and they need their basic needs addressed. I would add to that list the emotional need for connection. Whether somebody has died or not died, everybody has experienced loss. If it’s compounded by the loss of a loved person, of course, it’s much worse, but even if you haven’t lost a person, you’ve lost the environment in which you’ve lived. You’ve lost any sense of security, you’ve lost all your belongings.

Imagine you’re standing there and everything around you has been destroyed. What you need is to be reconnected with people that are familiar to you and reestablish as quickly as possible some kind of structure and routine in your life. And, these two things will really help you address the other issues of maintaining your physical health.

I’ve written guidelines with others for both the COVID pandemic and the Ukraine crisis on how we can support children who have suffered a bereavement. We’re adapting them now. The key points are, to tell the truth in a way that’s appropriate to a child’s developmental age and to make sure that they have continuous loving care.

News of the earthquake that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria early this morning has shocked and dismayed many of us. The magnitude 7.8 quake has taken over 3,500 lives as of this writing,* and destroyed infrastructure in a region already beset with war and a refugee crisis, to say nothing of the harsh winter weather. How may we respond to this humanitarian disaster?

*Sadly, as of Friday, February 10, more than 22,000 people in Turkey and Syria have lost their lives in the earthquake and its aftermath.

As a community of faith in action, Fordham has responded with great generosity to past crises around the world. I am writing to ask that we all do so again. This Sunday’s Gospel reminded us of our identity as “salt of the earth and light of the world” (Mt. 5:13-16). Let’s hold up the light of hope in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Turkey and Syria in their hour of darkness and unimaginable loss.

Below is a list of agencies accepting donations toward their rescue and relief efforts in the region. I ask that we all give what we can, and of course, please keep those afflicted by this tragedy in your prayers and in your hearts.

With gratitude for your generosity,

José Luis Salazar, S.J.
Executive Director of Campus Ministry

Doctors Without Borders: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Save the Children: https://www.savethechildren.org/

UNICEF: https://www.unicefusa.org/

But he always knew he wanted to leave his native Turkey to study here, and Fordham’s Bronx campus had a special appeal to him: Gültepe, the area of Istanbul where he lived, translates as “Rose Hill” in English.

He said the United States’ traditions of freedom of religion, inquiry, and speech were things that drew him here.

“In Turkey we are so divided politically, there is no space for talking freely,” he said.

After dabbling in courses in sociology, anthropology, archeology, and history, Kilicarslan, who is Muslim, is leaning toward a Middle East studies major. He’s already declared a minor in Jewish Studies, the first student at Fordham to do so.

Kilicarslan developed a particular interest in Judaism after having taken two courses: Jews in the Ancient and Medieval World, and History of Modern Judaism. He’s enrolled this semester in East European Jewish History, and last month he became Fordham’s first intern in the Museum for Jewish Heritage’s interfaith program.

As part of the internship, he helps facilitate dialogue between Muslim and Jewish elementary school students.

“In Turkey, I didn’t have a chance to study or even read about Jews and Christians. I had only some illusions about them, and some superficial knowledge. My goal here is to really understand these different cultures,” he said.

Magda Teter, Ph.D., the Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies and professor of history, called Kilicarslan “one of the most exciting and intellectually promising students” that she has met in 15 years of teaching. She’s added new images, maps, and study quotes to her courses in Jewish history course as a result of his queries.

“Since he’s coming from the Muslim tradition, in which the Qur’an was transmitted in Arabic— and not in different versions and translations as biblical texts were—he’s asked very poignant questions about the process of establishing scriptural canon, and about its fluidity,” she said.

“Some of his most thought provoking questions have led me to change the direction and focus of the course I’d taught for over a decade.”

Kilicarslan said one benefit of learning about Christianity and Judaism is that it helps him better understand his own faith. The Qur’an references Jews and Christians, he said, and he sees no reason why they can’t all live together peacefully. The conflicts and persecutions among members of the three faiths has tended to be the result of economics, or political interests or aspirations.

“I’m interested in the complex situations among different groups, and in finding solutions for these situations. What I see is that, like me, a lot of people have [to overcome]a superficial understanding of others.”

“When people of different faiths focus on our common ground and wisdom, such as accepting the same God, seeing violence as unfruitful, and the existence of compassion and love in all three traditions, our tensions will decrease,” he said.

However, 2016 saw many scholarship plans disrupted when instability in Turkey forced the U.S. Department of State to halt all sponsored trips to the area. The Fulbright Scholar Program, Boren Awards, and other programs were cancelled or displaced, leaving students nationwide without a plan of action.

Among that group were three Fordham students who were left in an unfortunate and sensitive situation.

Same Plan, Different Country

Antonio DelGrande, FCRH ’16, was excited about the opportunity to return to Turkey to study the Turkish language on a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS). He began teaching himself Turkish in high school and studied abroad there twice through Fordham. The week that DelGrande was supposed to sign his acceptance letter, however, was the same weekend of the attempted coup (July 15).

“I was upset because I really wanted to go back,” said DelGrande. The thought of not being in Turkey to study Turkish, he said. didn’t feel right.

Instead of Bursa, Turkey, CSL moved DelGrande’s program to Baku, Azerbaijan, a city almost 1,500 miles away. Even though it was an unknown terrain, DelGrande was still enthusiastic about the experience.

“I was [still] part of a great scholarship project and that was going to be a once in a lifetime experience,” said DelGrande. “There was a thrill to exploring a new country I may have [otherwise]never travelled to.”

DelGrande hopes to return to Turkey once it is deemed safe—whether it is for a graduate program, a teaching position, or simply a visit. In the meantime, he continues to improve on his language skills.

“I’ll relish any chance I have to go back,” he said.

Going Despite the Odds

Even before he applied for a Fulbright, David Rowley, FCRH ’13, knew what that he wanted to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to Arabic speakers. He became interested in the Middle East during his studies at Fordham and traveled to Jordan to study Arabic. After his graduation, he also spent time teaching ESL in Tunisia. Turkey was next on his list, he said, because of the nation’s influence in the Middle East.

“Turkey has a wide effect on the Middle East and Northern Africa economically, culturally, and linguistically,” said Rowley. “I wanted to experience the culture firsthand and learn the extent of its influence.”

When he heard that the state department cancelled his trip, he reached out to everyone he knew in the Middle East. A professor at the university where he was supposed to teach contacted him, saying the university had openings in the foreign language department. Rowley got the teaching job.

“I knew I didn’t want the cancellation to slow me down,” he said. “I was so relieved when he contacted me. I was lucky.”

Rowley now lives in Sakarya, Turkey and works at Sakarya University, where he hopes to spend at least a year before returning to the United States to get a master’s degree in education. He looks forward to teaching English and Arabic stateside, and to entering academia.

Hoping for a Second Chance

Mostafa Elmadboly, FCRH ’16, was forced to accept that his plans to teach English at Bülent Ecevit University in Zonguldak, a Turkish mining town on the Black Sea, were no longer an option for him after the announcement of the state department cancellations.

“I’d gone to Turkey before on the Critical Language Scholarship and had an incredible experience,” said Elmadboly. “A few of my classmates were former Fulbrighters and had encouraged me to apply.”

“There’s history everywhere in Turkey. I [still] want to complement my experiences in the Arab world by studying and living there,” he said.

Rebecca Stark-Gendrano, assistant director in the Office of Prestigious Fellowships, said that because fellowships are intensely competitive to begin with, the office encourages students to develop numerous contingency plans.”That way, if plan A doesn’t work out, we can get right to work helping students figure out how to make plan B or plan C a reality,” she said. (top photo by Osman Orsal)

–Mary Awad