SALT LAKE CITY — The owner of a Turkish coffee shop in downtown Salt Lake City has been watching intently as news comes in following a devastating earthquake that has killed thousands in both Turkey and Syria.
Elif Ekin is the owner of Kahve Café, which serves Turkish coffee, tea and different sweets and savories from the area.
While working in her kitchen Monday, Ekin make traditional turkey salads and borek, a form of baklava.
Ekin, whose father is Turkish, opened her café during the pandemic, sharing her love for Turkey and its people and hospitality.
A transplant to Utah, Ekin grew up learning how to make all her favorite foods. But her attention is now focused on the massive 7.8 earthquake that struck Turkey.
"It’s hard. It’s really heartbreaking because you feel really helpless because there’s really not much you can do that can make an impact so you just watch and go, 'Oh my God, I wish I could do more," she said.
Her father and his family are all from the region affected by the quake.
"My dad is originally from Oduhna, and Oduhna is one of the hit cities," Ekin explained.
Family photos hang in Ekin's shop. She says she’s grateful so far that everyone in her family, now mainly in the Istanbul area, is fine.
"They’re just traveling to check their fruit orchards," said Ekin. "They have lemon orchards and fruit orchards that they were just checking on when they called."
But she watches the video come in from the impacted region and knows there’s so much lost.
"There’s over 2,200 that are just flattened. They’ve lost cultural artifacts. There is a castle in Gozientep that has been there for over 2,000 years that is now flattened.
"So we’ve lost things that were made under Constantine or the Roman Empire and so there’s history in Turkey. It’s really the heart of that era that all these different cultures and travelers that made Turkey and that Mesopotamia area their home.
Faithful customers of the café have voiced their support.
"I’ve had a lot of people reach out to check on me and to check on my family, which is very heartwarming," Ekin said. "I have customers that have messaged me on Facebook, on private message, just to check to see if there’s anything that we need, and I just reassure them we’re all good, we’re all fine."
Ekin says the outpouring of support is because they’ve become like her customers have become family in Utah.
"[People ask] 'Do you need more tea? do you need more food? Do you need anything else?' And you really become part of our family and it's that environment we create here. A home away from home where you’re not just a customer but you become a part of our family."
