The Scot overseeing the UK’s relief efforts in the devastated southern Turkey thinks the crisis is finally starting to lighten after four months.
In the hours following the earthquakes in February, Erlend Linklater of Selkirk managed the dispatch of British rescue teams.
A field hospital was also established by the 48-year-old in the region of Gaziantep that had been completely destroyed.
The end of the tunnel is in sight, according to Erlend, even though progress has been slow.
Almost 60,000 people died across southern Turkey and northern Syria when two huge earthquakes struck during 6 February.
Many more were injured and displaced as thousands of buildings either totally or partially collapsed.
Erlend has been in Turkey for four years working as a humanitarian adviser with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as about 3.7 million refugees fled from the Syrian civil war.
Despite being previously based in some of the world’s most war-torn countries, such as Afghanistan, Angola and southern Sudan, he was still shocked by the scale of death and damage.
“If you work in conflict areas, you are used to seeing destroyed buildings, but if they are near the front line then often the civilian population has been evacuated,” he said.
“The scary thing about the earthquake is there was no warning and it happened at four o’clock in the morning when most people were asleep, meaning every collapsed building you look at is a mass graveyard.
“I’ve worked for a number of years in live conflicts with plenty of shooting and bombing going on, but in terms of the impact emotionally, this is one of the hardest things I’ve had to work on.”
The Scot has remained at the forefront of the UK government‘s disaster relief effort since the earthquakes struck.
He initially oversaw the deployment of 77 search and rescue experts, and in the days after the deathly tremors, helped co-ordinate a joint field hospital for the FCDO and the Ministry of Defence in Gaziantep.
More than 20,000 patients have since been treated at the temporary medical base.
Erlend has also been involved in making sure UK government aid, worth a total of £43m, reaches the worst-affected communities.
He said: “I don’t think there is a person in the affected areas who will not know somebody who has died. So many people are grieving.
“Some of the worst affected places like Hatay were places I knew well, visited frequently, and was fond of, which has compounded it and made it hit home even harder.”
Although about 2.4 million people are still living in camps and other temporary sites, Erlend believes that, after four months, noticeable progress is now being made.
He added: “We are continuing to provide shelter, water sanitation and hygiene and doing everything we can to minimise the spread of disease.
“I am based in Ankara, but every time I go down I see progress.
“Although there is still a long way to go, I can say for the first time in more than four months that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”