NYU Chaplain Travels to Turkey to Support Relief Efforts

Following the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, NYU Chaplain Khalid Latif visited Turkey to provide humanitarian aid.

When imam and NYU chaplain Khalid Latif arrived in Gaziantep, a Turkish city hit by recent earthquakes, he said it was like walking through a war zone. He found the inhabitants in a state of shock and impotence. Children who grew up on the run from the Syrian civil war casually asked Latif if his house had collapsed as well. One Turk lost 10 members of his family. The other lived in what Latif called a “box”, next to the remains of his house with nine relatives. His son is disabled and uses a wheelchair, so the family was tied to this enclosed space.

“The victims are now cold and scared to death,” Latif said. “People have lost all their property. They are still waiting for news from their loved ones. They said it was like the sound of rocks being crushed. It scares them.”

Latif, an NYU alumnus, traveled to Turkey on February 13 to deliver aid and talk to the victims with Islamic Relief USA, a non-profit humanitarian organization. It landed in Istanbul just a week after the earthquakes began.

Also, NYU Islamic Center Executive Director Latif said his constant interaction with Turkish and Syrian students, alumni and faculty has strengthened his connection with those affected by the disaster.

“We have a fairly large community at the Islamic Center,” Latif said. “Connecting with people who have lost loved ones has also been very personal. I wanted to do something to help them heal.”

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which occurred on February 6 with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6, respectively, claimed the lives of more than 47 thousand people. Another earthquake measuring 6.3 will hit southern Turkey near the Syrian border two weeks later on February 20, further damaging buildings and worsening the humanitarian situation.

When Latif arrived, aftershocks continued to rumble in Turkey and Syria, and people were so traumatized that they ran out of their homes at the slightest movement. For the next five days, he traveled around the city raising money through IRUSA and talking to victims.

Latif said the locals were the most dedicated humanitarian aid donors. He said he saw great beauty in their ability to lose everything and still gain strength to help those around them by digging people out of the rubble and distributing supplies. He noted that he was unable to enter Syria, where the number of refugees reportedly increased after the earthquakes.

“During this particular trip, we were only on the side of Turkey,” Latif said. “But in Turkey you have a huge number of Syrian refugees, Palestinian refugees, Uyghur refugees, and the reality is on both sides of the earthquake. The Turkish government has the infrastructure and capacity to provide its own relief work in northern Syria.”

Lateef previously served as a chaplain for the New York City Police Department and works to build interfaith understanding around the world. He was also the subject of the 2014 documentary Out of the Many, directed by Chelsea Clinton and directed by Linda Mills, who was recently elected as the next president of NYU.

Latif wanted the rest of the world to show the same compassion. He believed that the European and American media did not adequately cover the earthquake, and that there are still many people who remain in the dark about the full extent of the tragedy. He urged people around the world to continue spreading the word and donating money and supplies, adding that both Turkey and Syria would need international support to recover from the disaster.

“It’s a big difference,” Latif said, “when you have someone who goes out of their way to let you know what they think of you.”

Contact Veronika Shirokova [email protected]