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The coach of the Farul Constanta football team, Gheorghe Hagi, one of the best-known Romanians in Turkey after his performances as a player at Galatasaray, sent a message of support to the Turkish people on a social media platform on Monday, after Monday's earthquakes that caused several thousand deaths, told Agerpres.
"All my thoughts go to the Turkish people, hard tried in these moments. I stand with you!," Hagi wrote on his personal Facebook page.
Gheorghe Hagi played for five years, between 1996 and 2001, at Galatasaray Istanbul, becoming a real idol in Turkey after winning 4 titles, 2 Cups, 2 Turkish Super Cups, as well as the UEFA Cup.
Another Romanian footballer very well known in Turkey, Daniel Pancu, posted a message in English, "Pray for Turkey", accompanied by a photo showing a road completely destroyed by the earthquake. Currently coach of the Romanian Under 20 national team, Daniel Pancu won a title as a player in Turkey with Besiktas Istanbul.
Also on Monday, the men's handball club CSU Suceava sent a message of support after their former player Cemal Kutahya was caught under the rubble together with his family.
"Our prayers are directed at this moment to Cemal Kutahya. The former player of our team was trapped under the rubble together with his wife and child following the earthquake that occurred this morning in Turkey. At the moment the three are being sought by rescue crews," it is mentioned on the official Facebook page of the CSU Suceava group.
At the age of 32, Cemal Kutahya was part of the CSU Suceava team in the 2021-2022 season. Later, the right winger returned to his native country, to Hatay SK, a group that occupies the first place in the Turkish Super League.
Early Monday morning, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 shook the province of Kahramanmaras and strongly affected other areas - Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay and Kilis. It was followed by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake at 1:24 p.m. (10:24 GMT), also centered in Kahramanmaras, Elbistan district.
According to the information provided by the Turkish authorities, there were a total of 105 aftershocks, 2,824 buildings collapsing after the first earthquake.
At least 1,121 people were killed and 7,634 were injured in ten provinces after the strong earthquakes that shook southern Turkey on Monday, Anadolu news agency reports.
