tribun-nasional.com – A catastrophic 7,8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey near the border with Syria on 6 February 2023 claiming at least 15.000 lives, a massive death toll the world has ever seen.In response to the devastating disaster, the Indonesia Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) organized a nationwide prayer known as salat al-gaib, a prayer that was performed when a member of the family or community passed away.Kemenag’s Director of Islamic Religious Affairs and Sharia Development Adib said that Turkey and Indonesia have a very close historical and religious relationship as the two are some of the largest majority Muslim countries.“We announced to all Muslims in Indonesia, to show our compassion and forethought to the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria , to hold nationwide salat al-gaib, and to pray for those who are lost,” said Adib.
Aljazeera reported a staggering 15.000 death toll from the Turkey and Syria earthquakes. 12.873 people have died in Turkey and 2.950 have been killed in Syria .Residents of Turkey and Syria were criticizing the response from their governments as the hopes of finding survivors quickly were fading.