Turkish celebrities reach out to support firefighters

ISTANBUL

Several prominent Turkish celebrities have reached out to assist firefighters against wildfires that have been ravaging Turkey, daily Hürriyet reported on Aug. 5.

Some went the extra mile by helping firefighters on the ground while some organized humanitarian aid.

Famous actor İbrahim Çelikkol joined the fight against the wildfires at the forefront in the southwestern province of Muğla’s Marmaris district. The footage showing Çelikkol with a firehose hung on his shoulder battling forest fires was liked by millions on social media.

Hande Yener, popularly known as the “Queen of Turkish pop music,” donated 25,000 Turkish Liras ($2,930) to Muğla’s Bodrum Municipality.

Comedian Şahan Gökbakar was one of the celebrities who used social media judiciously. Since the third day of authorities combatting the wildfires, Gökbahar has been making live broadcasts from his Instagram account showing the forestlands on fire while asking for aerial support. Many of his broadcasts hit home as helicopters dropped water at the very points he broadcast.

Rock singer Haluk Levent, who established an aid organization named “AHBAP” in 2017, visited the southern province of Antalya’s Manavgat district in the first days of the fires that began on July 28.

Levent joined Gamze Özçelik, an actress who recently formed the “Umuda Koşanlar” association, in Manavgat where both worked together in delivering humanitarian aid to victims of the wildfires.

Socialite Süreyya Yalçın, who was criticized for her Instagram post showing her sunbathing in Bodrum amid the wildfires, sent two trucks of aid to the Mumcular neighborhood of Bodrum as a sign of apology. Actress Yasemin Özilhan sent four trucks of coolers to different disaster zones.

Comedian Eser Yenenler and his wife, Berfu Yenenler, joined a team of volunteers who packed foods and loaded them on trucks to be delivered to the fire victims at the Aegean coasts.

Influencer Selin Ciğerci was another donator who sent a truckload of aid to victims. “Mobile chargers, batteries, coolers, fire extinguishers… All loaded in a truck. It will never be the same again, but we will put bandages on the wounds of those people together,” she wrote in her Instagram post. Celebrity Şeyda Coşkun donated fire extinguishers to the Antalya Municipality.

Singer Zeynep Bastık came forward making calls for donations on social media. She posted a list of equipment needs and asked people to make donations to fill aid trucks on the way to Marmaris.

Actress Ece Erken evacuated some 180 people from Bodrum with her family’s boat. On the sixth day of the fires, she posted a message saying, “The only thing we could do was to save people with our boat. We evacuated some 180 people with the help of our captain.”

Famous TV show presenter Müge Anlı visited villagers evacuated from their houses in Antalya’s Gündoğmuş district. She uploaded photos showing villagers hugging her with hope.

“May God help firefighters who work with posthuman power,” she said.

Singer Merve Özbey was the one who organized help for saving animals. She designed social media campaigns to collect more animal food to be sent to disaster zones.

Singer Edis, who recently performed in Istanbul, donated all the savings of the concert to people in need with the help of the AHBAP Foundation.