The two schools were built in the municipalities of Serinyol and Maşuklu in the district of Antakya in the Hatay province and can accommodate a total of 670 pupils. In addition to pupils, teachers, parents, residents and representatives of the AKUT Foundation, which realized the project, the governor of Hatay province, the Director of the Provincial Department of Education and his deputy as well as the Director of the District Department of Education also took part in the celebrations.

The Chairman of the AKUT Foundation, Ali Nasuh Mahruki, emphasized in his speech at the opening ceremony: “Even though we are going through difficult times, we have set ourselves the goal of providing our students and teachers with the most efficient educational environment possible. We wish all students, teachers and parents a successful and enjoyable educational experience.”

Each of the new, soundproofed school buildings consists of eight classrooms, a staff room, a principal’s room and toilets, and are equipped with air conditioning, security systems, technical equipment, emergency exits, generators and water tanks. The classrooms have been furnished with desks, blackboards, computers and projectors.

“We were deeply moved by the devastating tragedy that occurred in my home country,” Ayhan Busch, co-founder and co-owner of Busch Vacuum Solutions, explained. “For my family, it was therefore a matter of course and a matter close to our hearts to help.”

In addition, Ayhan and Dr Karl Busch also donated 100,000 Euro to an emergency aid fund for students at the Technical University of Munich whose families were affected by the earthquake. 23 students were supported, 22 from Turkey and one from Syria. The amount of financial support was 300, 650 or 800 Euro per month over a period of six months, depending on whether the students had additional income and how much this amounted to. The TUM was able to finance all the scholarships with this one donation, with the majority of scholarship holders receiving the maximum amount.

One of the scholarship holders reports gratefully: “Receiving the scholarship in the aftermath of the earthquake was a miraculous experience for me, both academically and personally. This support provided me with not only financial support but also a profound sense of encouragement and stability during one of the most challenging periods of my life.”

Professor Hofmann, President of the Technical University of Munich, thanks Ayhan and Dr Karl Busch for the generous donation: “In personal conversations with the young people, I sensed more than a great deal of gratitude for the financial support. Of course, we could not relieve them of their worries. But thanks to the donation from Ayhan and Dr Karl Busch, we were at least able to alleviate their financial hardship and enable them to continue their studies at the TUM.”

The Busch family has a close relationship with the Technical University of Munich, where Dr Karl Busch studied in the 1950s and received his doctorate in 1960. The co-founder and co-owner of Busch Vacuum Solutions is a great supporter of the university and was made an honorary senator in 2019.

The AKUT Foundation is a Turkish non-governmental organization that sent
humanitarian aid supplies, technical equipment and protective gear for search and rescue teams to the disaster region after the earthquake.

On February 6, 2023, at 4:17 a.m., a 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. A short time later, the earth shook again with a magnitude of 7.5. During that night, one of the worst natural disasters in the region in recent decades claimed tens of thousands of lives and caused severe devastation over a radius of hundreds of kilometers.