Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan, a Turkish football player, passed away after his body was discovered buried in debris following the devastating earthquake that struck the nation.
A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake has devastated Turkey.
His team, Yeni Malatyaspor, said on Tuesday: “Sorry for your loss.”
“Our goalkeeper, Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan, lost his life after being under the collapse of the earthquake.”
“Rest in peace. We will not forget you, beautiful person.”
Ex-teammate Moussa Sow took the lead in paying respects by tweeting: “You were a good guy super nice respectful happy to have been able to know you.”
Turkaslan, a 28-year-old goalie, was among those reported to be trapped under debris on Monday.
Although his wife was successfully saved, it was reported that medical personnel were attempting to save the stopper’s life.
Yeni Malatyaspor tweeted following the shocking news: “Our prayers are with you.”
The club’s assistant coach at the time affirmed: “We have not reached our goalkeeper Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan yet.”
“There is no sign at the moment. His wife survived and described his location.”
Now that the terrible news has been confirmed, it is clear that he is one of the hundreds of people who died as a result of the natural tragedy.
Turkaslan progressed through the ranks at Bugsasspor before being loaned to Osmanlispor in 2016 to gain experience.
He made his professional debut for the team in the 4-0 defeat to Besiktas. He later impressed and joined them on a permanent basis.
Turkaslan stayed for three years until signing with Umraniyespor in 2020, where he played for one season before transferring to Yeni Malatyaspor.
Hours after a catastrophic once-in-a-century earthquake of magnitude 7.8 killed more than 1,000 people, a second extremely large earthquake of similar size struck Turkey.
The depth of the second earthquake was only five miles.
The death toll, which has now surpassed 1,000, had been forewarned by experts to go as high as 10,000.
The massive earthquake, which was the strongest to hit the nation in 100 years, also wreaked havoc in neighboring Syria.
The epicenter, which occurred just before daybreak, was close to the Turkish town of Nurdagi.
Many individuals were still awake in their beds and unable to evacuate as the ground started to tremble.
According to the United States Geological Survey, it was around 15 miles deep.
Up to 78 aftershocks, the biggest of which measured 6.6, then continued throughout the day.
A gas pipeline burst was also observed nearby, along with a huge tower of fire.
Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan
Turkish goalkeeper Ahmet Eyüp Türkaslan played professionally from 11 September 1994 to 7 February 2023.
In 2013, Türkaslan started his senior career with Bugsasspor, then in 2016–17 he took a brief loan to play for Osmanlspor.
On June 3, 2017, he made his Osmanlspor professional debut in a 4-0 loss to Beşiktaş.
His official contract was with Osmanlispor, and he played there for the following three seasons before switching to Ümraniyespor in 2020.
He agreed to a one-year deal with Yeni Malatyaspor the following season.
Death
Following the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake, reports surfaced on February 6 that Türkaslan was trapped under a fallen residential structure.
The club’s president, Hac Ahmet Yaman, rejected reports that he had passed away and stated that rescue efforts were still going on.
His wife was saved from the wreckage and appealed for assistance online. She noted that neither cranes nor excavators were present.
His remains were found on February 7, 2023. At the time of his passing, he was 28-year-old.
