‘We are here for you’: Politicians offer words of support as Islington remembers victims of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

People gather at the vigil. Photograph: Julia Gregory

“The trauma and the suffering can’t be undone, but we can help them,” a community leader told a vigil marking two weeks since the catastrophic earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Enes Susan from the Muslim Welfare House on Seven Sisters Road said communities face a big challenge supporting survivors of the disaster.

He was one of the speakers on the steps of Islington Town Hall, where children bearing Turkish flags and community leaders came together to remember those who lost their lives.

In attendance were representatives of IMECE, the women’s centre on Newington Green Road that works with Turkish, Kurdish and Turkish-Cypriot women and refugees and is providing support to the community.

Cllr Ilkay Cinko-Oner, who is Kurdish, told the gathering: “I have no words. I can’t express how I feel.”

She urged residents to get support if they needed it.

Others spoke of friends who have lost 30 family members after the earthquakes “shattered homes to the ground”.

Walid Saffour from Finsbury Park Mosque said sanctions have delayed the rescue efforts in Syria.

He lost a relative in the disaster and described how a bereaved friend lost 25 members of his family.

“It is very good to see sympathy in others, but what we need is help and help is not coming in North Syria,” he said.

“They need food, they need shelter, they need water. They have lost everything.”

North Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn said the government needs to help people desperate to see family or bring them here.

“When people are going through a disaster, you don’t ignore them, you don’t forget them.”

An Islington mother told of her concerns for family in the city of Adiyaman in Turkey who are all living in tents after the earthquakes.

She is keeping in touch with her family on WhatsApp and said camping is difficult for survivors, with challenges such as sanitation and dealing with the trauma of what happened.

Many of the buildings in Adiyaman were flattened, making thousands of people homeless.

As people were gathering, news came of a further quake at the Turkish city of Antakya, near the Syrian border.

Council leader Kaya Comer-Schwartz told the gathering: “We are here for you. We are here to support you.

“We know the pain and grief goes on much longer than months, it goes on for decades.”

Thrive London has resources to help the Turkish and Syrian community in London.