Deutsche Telekom said it was making all calls in its network between Germany, Türkiye and Syria free for a week as part of its aid response to the earthquake, adding that Telekom and Congstar customers in Türkiye and Syria would be able to make roaming calls for free.

Germany is home to over 3 million ethnic Turks, the world's largest Turkish diaspora population, and around a million refugees from the Syrian civil war.

The offer will run retroactively from midnight on Feb. 6 until Feb. 15, the company said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that it would donate a million euros for aid.

"The images and reports currently reaching us from Türkiye and Syria are deeply distressing and saddening," said Chief Executive Tim Hoettges in a statement.

"Our thoughts are with the victims and their families."

The 7.7 and 7.6, earthquakes centered in the Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş province have affected 10 provinces in Türkiye’s south.

According to the latest official figures, the quakes left at least 7,108 dead and 40,910 injured in Türkiye.

The quakes also severely affected neighboring Syria, leaving more than 2,000 dead.

German-Turkish community

Meanwhile, Turkish and Kurdish communities in Germany have launched donation drives to send money, warm clothes and blankets to victims of the earthquakes that tore through Türkiye and northwest Syria.

Volunteers began collecting aid in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich for the thousands left injured or homeless after their homes were destroyed.

Levent Çukur has coordinated an aid drive in the boxing gym he runs in Munich.

"We didn't expect it to go this crazy, it's mad. We thought we would fill two vans and then send them off but it hasn't stopped since 10 this morning."

As he spoke, a group of people was loading boxes of donations onto trucks. The first batch is scheduled to leave for Türkiye on Thursday.

"It is currently very cold in the affected regions and people urgently need blankets, warm clothing and boots," said Tunca Karakaş, a member of the cultural association Tuerkisch-Deutscher Kreis.

"We are throwing ourselves into work," said Faruk Akalan, a representative in Germany of the Kurdish Red Crescent, which has already sent 250,000 euros ($268,000) to the affected regions.

The Turkish Community in Germany is pointing the community to existing donation drives.

"Sending money is better than sending goods because people themselves know best what they need and can use the money to buy it," said group chairperson Gökay Sofuoğlu.