World Central Kitchen cooking meals for over 20,000 people in quake-hit Türkiye

KAHRAMANMARAS, Türkiye

The World Central Kitchen cooks meals for over 20,000 people every day in Türkiye’s quake-hit Kahramanmaras province.

“As an organization, we respond to crises all over the world. As soon as we heard there was an earthquake in Turkey, we decided to get on planes and get over here to start feeding the people,” Brack Watters, an official from the non-profit organization, told Anadolu.

Watters said they prepare meals for 20,000 to 30,000 people in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras. He added that they plan to stay in the area for three to four months, but would stay longer if needed.

He said helping people in need is a “great passion” for them.

In order to revive the economy of the district, he said they bought local produce from the residents of Elbistan.

Praising the Turkish hospitality, he said the people in the region try to help them as much as they can.

More than 44,200 people have been killed in the quakes that hit southern Türkiye on Feb. 6.

The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces -- Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar