Around 200 people attended a fast-breaking meal for the holy Islamic month of Ramadan hosted by the Turkish community in London on Monday.
Türkiye's Ambassador to the United Kingdom Osman Koray Ertaş, Islamic Community Milli Görüş (ICMG) head Kemal Ergün, Camden Mayor Nasim Ali and Humaira Garasia, speaker of the London Borough of Hackney, were among the attendees.
After the call to prayer was recited, Muslims broke their fast at the iftar, which was organized by ICMG U.K.
Speaking at the event, Ubeyde Bilaloğlu, the head of ICMG's U.K. organization, mentioned the deadly earthquakes that struck Türkiye on Feb. 6 that killed more than 50,000 people.
Thanking all nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including non-Turkish and non-Muslim NGOs, for their help to fundraise money for the quake-hit victims, he said that ICMG has so far collected 23 million euros ($25 million).
Touching on the importance of the holy month, he said: "Ramadan is a good time and good opportunity to change. It's a time where we can analyze ourselves."
Noting there are people facing many problems around the world, including Palestinians and Ukrainians, he said they will continue to fight for peace and the well-being of people.
Meanwhile, Ertaş thanked everyone who took part in organizing the event, saying that compared with the Ramadan atmosphere in Türkiye, it is not easy to observe Ramadan abroad.
Also touching on February's earthquakes, he said everyone has made huge efforts to help heal the wounds in the quake-hit areas of Türkiye.
"Hopefully, we will heal all the wounds," he noted, also thanking Ali and Garasia for attending the event.
Sheikh Kazi Luthfur Rahman, the imam of the Central Mosque in London, conducted a prayer after the iftar.
