Fans throw stuffed toys onto soccer field for children affected by earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

Thousands of stuffed animals and other items were thrown onto the soccer field in a match between Turkish teams Besiktas and Antalyaspor on Sunday. The toys were for the children affected by the recent earthquakes in the country and in neighboring Syria. 

Fans of the home team, Besiktas, were allowed to throw the donated toys and winter clothing onto the pitch at Istanbul’s Vodafone Park during the Turkish Super Lig game’s 4-minute and 17-second mark – a somber tribute to the first earthquake that hit Turkey on Feb. 6. at 4:17 a.m. 

The team later tweeted a video of workers placing the gifts into plastic bags before they were sent off.

Besiktas organized the event, called “This toy is my friend,” to give “morale to the children” impacted by the earthquakes, according to the BBC. The outlet also reported that fans participated in anti-government chants at the match aimed at Turkey’s response to the earthquakes, which many have seen as inadequate.  

Nearly 50,000 people have been killed in the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, according to the Associated Press. The World Bank estimated the quakes caused $34.2 billion in “direct physical damages” in Turkey – the equivalent of 4% of the country’s GDP. On Monday, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed one person in a southern part of the country, three weeks after the devastating quake to hit the region.