By Emre Asikci
ISTANBUL (AA) - Furkan Korkmaz of the Philadelphia 76ers confirmed Thursday that he put up signed jerseys from Joel Embiid and James Harden for auction to fund earthquake relief efforts in Türkiye.
Korkmaz, 25, wrote on Twitter that all proceeds would be donated to the Turkish non-governmental organization (NGO), Ahbap.
Turkish footballer Merih Demiral previously held a charity auction of former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonardo Bonucci and Paulo Dybala shirts that raised 5 million Turkish liras, or $265.500.
Famous Turkish rock music singer, Haluk Levent, 54, founded the Ahbap voluntary network in 2017 to help those in need.
Anadolu Efes' Shane Larkin announced Thursday that former Fenerbahce Beko player Jan Vesely donated 500,000 liras ($26.500) to the Shane Larkin Foundation to help quake victims.
All sports activities in Türkiye have been suspended until further notice as the country observes seven days of national mourning.
The Turkish Football Federation, in cooperation with the Turkish Union of Clubs, will establish a neighborhood of 1,000 containers in the earthquake region.
Super Lig fixtures are expected to resume March 3 and 4, Turkish Football Federation President Mehmet Buyukeksi said Thursday.
More than 17,100 people have been killed and over 70,300 injured after two powerful earthquakes jolted southern Türkiye on Monday, according to officials.
The 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude quakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, were felt by 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.