Worried Aziz Behich was just relieved his friend had answered his phone after the earthquake in Turkey – even if he alarmingly told him it was like: “Death in front of your eyes.”
The Dundee United star spent a lot of his career in the disaster-hit country and like many was praying for friends after seeing the scale of the devastation on TV. The deadly earthquakes have accounted for more than 55,000 lives in Turkey and Syria, leaving millions homeless among the mounds of rubble. Ex-Newcastle star Christian Atsu was one of the victims.
Behich was concerned for his former team-mates having played for Turkish sides Bursaspor, Istanbul Basaksehir, Kayserispor and Girensunspor. Fredrik Gulbrandsen was in Adana – one of the many cities that were decimated. Behich had built up a close bond with the Norwegian striker during their time at Basaksehir. The Aussie full-back said: “I knew a few people who were caught up in the earthquake, I have two good friends who stay in the cities which were hit.
“Thankfully they were fine. One of our other good friends, Fredrik Gulbrandsen, won the league with us. He was actually in his house when it hit. He is injured at the moment so he wasn’t away with his team but he managed to get out.
“He felt the building shaking so quickly got out then ran to the house of one of his team-mates to get his wife and kids because he knew he wasn’t there. The team had a game the next day so his wife and kids were at home by themselves. He said it was like looking at death in front of your eyes.”
Behich, 32, was just delighted that Gulbrandsen was OK but the alarm bells were ringing slightly longer with another former team-mate, Furkan Ozcan. The defender initially didn’t respond to calls and Behich feared the worst as Ozcan lives in Kastamonu, another city that felt the full force of the quake.
Thankfully, the next day Behich got a response. Ozcan had been one of the lucky ones and was unscathed.
Behich recalled: “When it happened I couldn’t get a hold of one of our friends, a young boy I played with at Bursaspor. But thankfully he got back to me about 24 hours later, just saying the city was pretty knocked out but he was OK.”
The Tannadice star is now doing all he can from afar to help those victims in Turkey and Syria. Former Swiss captain Gokhan Inler has his own charity, Inler Spor Ve Egitim Vakfi, doing work in the worst affected areas. Behich played alongside the ex-Leicester City midfielder at Basaksehir and has made several donations to the cause.
He explained: “It’s so sad to see, I’ve spent more than half my life in Turkey and it’s terrible. My wife and I have been donating and helping out as much as we can. A really good friend, Gokhan Inler, has a charity so we are getting involved with him.
“There are a lot of people homeless at the moment so there’s so much needing done. He does a lot of charity work, so it’s medical stuff for hospitals and things like that.”
Earthquakes are not uncommon in the region although they are not normally as high up the Richter scale as the recent ones. Behich admitted it was a constant concern in his time in Turkey. The World Cup star admitted: “I only felt tremors once when I was there, that was it – never a full-blown earthquake.
“Turkey is known for it happening but even with that, it’s horrendous when it does happen and causes so much devastation like that.”
It puts into context Dundee United’s current struggles but that won’t stop Behich doing everything he can to keep them in the Premiership. The left-back’s vital goal at Livingston handed the Arabs their first point under Jim Goodwin and moved them to within three points of second-bottom Kilmarnock. United will be hoping to pile the pressure on their rivals with a win against St Mirren this weekend.
Behich added: “I believe in the squad we’ve got, I believe we can get out of it – we have enough experience to dig ourselves out of it. You have to win the big games and if you do that then you will give yourselves a really good chance.”
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