In March 2023, ST had reported how Mr Ahmet, a Singapore permanent resident, had lost more than 120 of his relatives in the natural disaster.
Following the earthquakes, Mr Ahmet had encouraged Mustafa and his two sisters, aged 20 and 17, to come to Singapore.
The children's 45-year-old father Celal Akpinar is separated from their mother and has been living in Singapore for five years on an S Pass, working as a chef with his brother, Mr Ahmet.
The three siblings arrived here in October 2023 and are on dependent passes.
Mustafa does not speak English. But as he sat next to his uncle, who acted as translator, the weight of the disaster on his young shoulders spoke volumes.
He recalled: "It was very cold. We were not sure if we would survive, because for three days we did not eat or drink, and we also could not move. We were waiting for rescuers to come. My mother kept saying, 'Just be patient, just be patient'."
After they were pulled from the rubble, Mustafa and his family were put up in one of the container homes set up for survivors of the earthquake.