Indian restaurateur in Turkey offers food, refuge to people displaced by earthquake
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Indian restaurateur in Turkey offers food, refuge to people displaced by earthquake

Deependra Garain opened the doors of his restaurant and hotels in the city of Nevşehir in Cappadocia to over 30 civilians, including many women and children.

   
Deependra Garain | By special arranagement

Deependra Garain | By special arranagement

New Delhi: For the last three days, 39-year-old Deependra Garain has opened the doors of his restaurant and hotels in the city of Nevşehir in central Turkey’s Cappadocia to over 30 civilians, including many women and children, displaced by this week’s devastating earthquake.

On 6 February, the earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and western Syria, killing over 16,000 people from both countries. Dozens of countries, including India, have deployed national disaster teams and sent humanitarian aid to the devastated areas.

“Many civilians fled the quake-hit regions of Maras (Kahramanmaraş) and Hatay. There was no food, electricity, or water for them there. Coming to Cappadocia was difficult for them as temperatures are around -8 and -10 degrees Celsius,” Garain told ThePrint over the phone. 

Women and children fleeing quake-hit areas arrive in Tekkaya Cave Hotel, Nevşehir, Turkey | By special arrangement]

Garain, who originally belongs to Madhya Pradesh, says the stranded civilians were offered rooms free of charge in his two hotels — Tekkaya Cave Hotel and Taru Cave Suites. 

The Turkey-Syria earthquake is considered the deadliest since Japan’s 9.0-magnitude quake in 2011.  

In a media briefing Wednesday, Sanjay Verma, secretary (west) at the Ministry of External Affairs, remarked that this is the “biggest natural disaster to befall Turkey since 1939” when 30,000 civilians died in a major earthquake.

 On Thursday morning, the sixth Indian military plane with relief reached Turkey as part of ‘Operation Dost’. Several personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have also been deployed to quake-hit areas to augment rescue efforts.


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‘Fed 65 stranded civilians’

Stranded civilians have been offered regular meals at Garain’s restaurant, ‘Namaste India’, which offers Indian cuisine and is within walking distance of the two hotels.

“On Wednesday, we fed around 65 people in our restaurant — those who are taking refuge in the hotels and others as well. The other hotels and establishments in Cappadocia have started doing the same,” he said. 

Stranded Turkish civilians offered food at ‘Namaste India’ | By special arrangement

Garain opened ‘Namaste India’ and the other two hotels nearly six years ago. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in hotel management and previously worked as a chef at Le Meridien in Dubai before moving to Turkey in 2016.

(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)


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