In a near-deserted area of the southern Turkish city of Osmania, 48-year-old Rehan Varal sits with her 59-year-old husband Mateen next to a ruin, waiting for her life’s savings.
According to Reuters news agency, his house in a three-story building has become a pile of rubble due to the devastating earthquake that occurred in Turkey on February 6.
This Turkish couple who survived the terrible earthquake and are now waiting for the debris to be cleaned up will surely find some part of their years of hard work which was in the form of gold in their house.
It should be noted that about a month ago, due to the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, about 50 thousand people were killed.
Like this Turkish couple, many other Turks have kept their savings in the form of gold at home for decades, and most people in Turkey and the Middle East prefer to store the precious metal at home rather than keep cash in banks. trust
Rehan and her husband Mateen pointed to the pile of debris and said that everything we have is in this mound.
We had a house on this quiet road lined with lemon trees, we wanted to buy another house for which we were saving, he said.
Rehan said that my husband and I visit the wreckage every day so that if any rescue team comes here, I can tell them that before lifting the wreckage, I can dig out the gold buried here, which I know where it is kept.
In recent years, many Turks have sought to save money by buying and holding gold to cope with the sharp depreciation and inflation of the Turkish currency, the lira.
A contractor for a debris-clearing firm, who declined to be named, said people were more confident in buying and holding gold than currency.
The authorities are removing the rubble of buildings that collapsed due to the earthquake so that the millions of people who lost their homes can start to focus on rebuilding their homes.
Furthermore, the disaster zone is still full of people who are waiting for the debris removal teams near the ruins to find their valuables.