City of Whittlesea hosted a community vigil on Friday to unite with Turkey and Syria communities who have been impacted by the Middle Eastern earthquakes that hit earlier this month.
Council members, Victoria Police, and parliamentarians including Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell and Member for Mill Park Lily D’Ambrosio attended to hear prayers and statements from Father Zher Mohana, from St Francis Of Assisi in Mill Park, and Imam Recep Akakus, from Thomastown Mosque.
Community members had the opportunity to lay flowers at Terrance Laws in South Morang to reflect upon the tragedies.
Mr Mitchell said the evening was ‘sombre’, with community members sharing their connections to Turkey and Syria during the major earthquakes.
He said the vigil was hosted in acknowledgement of communities that had provided Australia aid in crises.
“It was really about offering an ear, hand or [a] shoulder for people who are grieving and concerned, and acknowledging that we’re all here, we’re all listening,” he said.
“We know what it’s like when we’ve been through tragic events, the globe puts their hand up to help us out in our times of need, and our communities.”
Mr Mitchell, who is chair of the Australia West Asia Parliamentary Network for Turkey, said McEwen had been part of the aid process.
He had spoken to affected people wanting to provide support to those impacted.
“[They are] such a great bunch of people that when someone else is in trouble, they want to return the favour. We’ve had a lot of people just wanting to find out how they can assist or help or do something,” he said.
“Working through the Australian Government, I’ve been working with the Turkish government about what we can do, and we’ve got people over there, and we’ve got aid going there.”
Mr Mitchell thanked the City of Whittlesea and the community for hosting a vigil to show support for affected community members.
“We should really acknowledge the community and the City of Whittlesea for putting it together,” he said.
“It shows a great deal of respect for community members who’ve got families and friends who have passed in a tragic event, but it just shows the strength of why we’re lucky to live in an area that we do.”
