A keepsake from her mother lost in the earthquake: A mobilization to find a ring

Zehra Alın, who was caught in the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes with her family, lost her mother, Cemile Alın, and her father, Tuncay Alın, in the disaster.

The young woman, who was pulled from the rubble alive, lost the ring—the only possession remaining from her mother—on the beach in the Arsuz district of Hatay, where she had recently gone for a vacation.

Alın, who shared a post on social media to find the ring that was her mother's memory, managed to reach millions of people.

Following the young woman's post, Hatay Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mehmet Öntürk and Arsuz Mayor Sami Üstün took action.

The two mayors, who met with the young woman, launched a search operation on the beach and in the sea to find the ring. While teams are searching the beach with detectors, divers are also conducting a search in the sea.

“I LOST MY MOTHER, MY FATHER, MY GRANDMOTHER, I LOST EVERYONE THERE”

32-year-old Zehra Alın said, “I am a teacher and I had been appointed to Istanbul. I was here during the February 6 earthquake; it was my first visit home after my appointment, schools were on break, and I had come to be with my mother and father. I was caught in the earthquake at the family home. I had a flight to Istanbul on the day of the earthquake; the earthquake happened on Sunday and schools were opening on Monday. I had bought my ticket for the last day, but after I went to the airport, my ticket was canceled. I think the weather in Istanbul was very bad, so I returned home. My mother opened the door and we laughed together. My mother said 'may it be for the best' and then we went to sleep, and that is how the earthquake happened. People living around us who were not as affected by the earthquake came, and we pulled them out much later. My grandmother was also downstairs; I lost my mother, my father, and my grandmother, I lost everyone there. Only I came out of there. I experienced the misfortune of losing the ring left by my mother in Arsuz, where I came for a vacation, and the ring was lost.”

“EVEN IF THE RING IS NOT FOUND, I STILL HAVE HOPE”

Stating that she never imagined she would reach millions of people with her social media post, Alın continued:

“I mean, I wrote that tweet without ever imagining it would reach this point. I would like to thank our Arsuz Mayor, our Hatay Metropolitan Mayor, the friends working here, and everyone on Twitter who offered me their prayers, who wanted to send me their mother's keepsake, who wanted to make the same one, and the jewelers—I thank them all individually.

I shared that tweet thinking; someone might have found it after me, because the water is very clear and clean, and even a tiny sparkle can be seen. I shared it hoping that the person who found it after me might see my post and return my ring, but everyone gave so much support.

I am very surprised and also very happy, truly. I said this on Twitter and I want to say it again. Now that my mother and father are gone at the same time, I have a tremendous feeling of loneliness. Since the earthquake, this is the first time I have seen so many people who have internalized my trouble; it affected me a lot. Even if the ring is not found, I still have hope inside me; even if it is not found, I thank everyone who contributed.”

ARSUZ MAYOR: WE CARE A LOT ABOUT THE RING

Stating that they did not remain indifferent to the social media post, along with the Hatay Metropolitan Municipality, Arsuz Mayor Sami Üstün said, “As the Arsuz Municipality, we care a lot about the ring that our sister Zehra lost, in order to protect the memory our loved ones left behind for us. To return this ring, whose memory is very precious, to its owner, we as the Arsuz Municipality are searching for the ring on the beach with detectors with our entire team. At the same time, I would like to express my gratitude for the sensitive approach of our Hatay Metropolitan Mayor. Their divers are also putting in an intense effort to find the ring. I hope that we can protect the memory of our sister Zehra, support her, and ease her pain even a little bit. Once again, get well soon to all of us. We want her to know that we stand with our sister Zehra.”