A Muslim community leader has told how his mosque received a hate-filled letter saying "sorry that more Muslims didn’t die" in the terrible earthquakes that has hit Turkey and Syria.
More than 42,000 people were confirmed dead, with thousands more unaccounted for, after two powerful tremors hit the Kahramanmaras province of Turkey on February 6.
Many Turkish and Syrian people living in the UK have lost friends and family members and have been collecting and organising the delivery of aid to the affected region.
It includes Masjid Ramadan, a mosque on Shacklewell Lane in Hackney, that received the letter with the horrific abuse.
Erkin Guney, chairman of the mosque, said the letter left him "without words".
Showing the letter in his possession, he told MyLondon: “We just received a letter today in the post and it’s very disturbing. As a Muslim and as a Turkish Cypriot, I can only pray for the person who sent it, because they need help.”
Erkin initially thought it was a letter of condolences when he read the first line, which reads: “This heartfelt letter is to express my sincerest sorrow about the events in Turkey and Syria.”
But as he read on, he quickly realised it was quite the opposite.
The letter continues: “I wish to make it clear that it is not heartfelt sorrow that I feel that thousands of people died. I’m only sincerely sorry that more Muslims didn’t die.”
The person who sent the letter goes on to say the death toll was "nowhere near enough" and that they’d hoped there would be "two million dead at the very minimum".
Visibly upset by the letter, Erkin said: “My stomach turns and at the same time I feel pity for this person because the people who have taught him to be this way saddens me.
“This person obviously has mental health conditions. It is a hate crime to wish that not enough of us died. This will be forwarded to the police.”
He added: “I don’t really know what else to say. I’m without words. I’m praying for them. They need help. I can’t believe the contents of this letter and that it was posted at a time when we are trying to help people who have lost their children, their mums, their dads…families.”
Later in the day, it came to light that another Turkish mosque in nearby Stoke Newington received a similar letter.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson reportedly said: "On 15 February, police received a report of a letter sent to two mosques in Hackney containing racist and Islamaphobic language. Enquiries are ongoing. There has been no arrest."
