GAZIANTEP, Turkey - Residents from the village of Sakcagoz, one of the locations severely affected by the earthquake in Turkey on Feb 6, expressed their longing to hear the call to prayer at the Merkez Mosque here.
Despite standing stall, the only mosque in the village can no longer be used due to its cracked structures resulting from the disaster last week that has claimed more than 35,000 deaths.
Demir Kamil, 59, said since the tragedy, residents were no longer allowed to enter the mosque as per instructions from the authorities.
"The underground part of the mosque where the ablution location is located was badly destroyed and the walls and minarets of the mosque were cracked.
"Because of that, the call to prayer has not been heard in this mosque for the past 10 days,” he said when met with Sinar on Wednesday.
Demir’s house was destroyed and now takes shelter in a tent with his family members.
Facing temperatures of up to -5° Celsius almost every day, Demir relies on a bonfire to warm them up.
"This is our only way to reduce the feeling of extreme cold. In the past we used heaters but now we only hope for bonfires," he said.
Despite being facing hardships, Demir was still grateful that his family and neighbours survived the earthquake rs survived even though this village recorded approximately 300 deaths.