Cambridge students have launched a bursary fund to provide support to university students in Turkey affected by the recent earthquake in the country.

The initiative has been pioneered by three PhD history students from Turkey – Elif Yumru, Mehmet Dogar and Zeynep Olgun – in light of the devastation caused by the earthquake, which led to the death of over 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria and left several hundred thousands homeless.

Yumru, Dogar and Olgun believe that the devastation caused by the earthquake will outlast current media attention. While resources and support are currently being diverted to Turkey and Syria, they consider it unlikely for this to sustain after a few months. Because of this, the students launched the fund to address the long-term consequences of the disaster, particularly for university students. Dogar said, “we wanted to create a long-term initiative, because there are students who are going to need help for years.”

For these students, this devastation may be geographically distant but it is emotionally close. Yumru said: “It’s devastating to see the place that you grew up in reduced to rubble. I have relatives who died there, so it’s been incredibly personal. Working on this project has been very helpful, it’s really helped keep us focused over the past week.”

The students are collaborating with the Turkish Education Foundation UK (TEV UK), an independent UK-based charity to help students from Turkey access equal educational opportunities, for identifying students affected directly by the earthquake. All donations will be transferred to the charity, which in turn will distribute these in Turkey.

Besides providing financial support to university students, the three students hoped for the fund to reflect “solidarity and signal clearly the University’s commitment to the pursuit of education all around the world.”

Numerous academics and members of the university have supported the bursary fund. Professor Yael Navaro from the Department of Social Anthropology said: “People are dealing with horrible, apocalyptic situations of having to look for loved ones in the rubble.”

She added: “We’re very much in touch with people out there, and we know what kind of help is needed. That’s why I’m so happy to support this project, working with the Turkish Educational Foundation which has the ability to reach university students who are actually in need.”

As of the end of February, the initiative has raised over £6,000.