BY SAMI KOHEN
MILLIYET- An activity started in our country finally to help the tsunami victims in South Asia. Following the great disaster which hit the region three weeks ago, Western countries helped the disaster victims immediately, but Turkey wasn’t interested in the issue sufficiently. It was really difficult to understand why the Turkish nation was just an onlooker to this drama. Fortunately, Turkey realized it and started an activity to draw the attention to victims and ensure help. The first great activity was a 12-hour concert which was organized in Istanbul last Sunday. A total of 100,000 YTL was collected thanks to this concert, participated by 130 famous artists. I hope this solidarity will continue and various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will keep this interest alive and provide the collection of larger amounts of aid. As I indicated last week, it’s never too late for Turkey to carry out such a campaign.
Our readers read our articles concerning the issue and sent a great many e-mail to us. They expressed their sadness due to Turkey’s insensitivity concerning the issue and put forth various reasons for this. In sum, the most important reasons are as follows: (1) the media and private institutions didn’t show interest in this issue sufficiently, (2) doubts concerning the arrival of the aid to necessary places. As one of our readers wrote, Europeans didn’t keep their promise of aid following previous earthquakes, for example, in Iraq’s Ben region and this shook everybody’s confidence. Another reader asked, ‘Who will put the collected money into his pocket?’ Actually these aren’t wrong doubts. However, this time there is more serious and transparent work and organization to keep these promises. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will deliver the collected aid during his visit to the earthquake region on February 3. This is an important gesture. Turkey can also contribute to disaster victims in other fields, for example, health, education, reconstruction, etc. For example, a school or health institution can be established in Indonesia. If we combine our helpfulness and imagination, we can do so many things. It’s not too late.