Turkish Red Crescent Explained

Turkish Red Crescent
Native Name:Türk Kızılayı
Native Name Lang:tr
Formerly:Hilâl-i Ahmer Cemiyeti (until 1935)
Founding Location:Ottoman Empire (1868)
re-established in Ankara, Turkey (1935)
Type:Humanitarian Aid
Status:Active
Headquarters:Ankara, Turkey
Language:Turkish

The Turkish Red Crescent (Turkish: Türk Kızılay) is the Turkish affiliate of the International Red Crescent and the first worldwide adopter of the crescent symbol for humanitarian aid.[1]

Being the largest humanitarian foundation in Turkey, its roots goes back to the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856 and the Russo-Turkish War from 1876 to 1878, where disease overshadowed battle as the main cause of death and suffering among Turkish soldiers.[2]

Operating to this day as a not-for-profit volunteer-based social service,[3] it is considered one of the most important charity organizations in the Muslim world.[4] [5]

History

The organization was founded under the Ottoman Empire on 11 June 1868 and was named "Hilâl-i Ahmer Cemiyeti" (Society of the Crimson Crescent), or in French the "Croissant-Rouge Ottomane" (Ottoman Red Crescent).[6]

It later took on the names:

It was renamed Kızılay by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1935, after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.

Beginning with the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), the Turkish Red Crescent Society has provided medical relief to soldiers in all battlefields in which Turkey was present, through mobile and fixed hospitals, patient transportation services, hospital vessels, trained nurses and volunteers. It has provided humanitarian care regardless of nationality to all civilians affected by war. It has been involved in disaster relief and aid in natural disasters in Turkey. It has participated in international relief and response activities.

Examples of disaster relief activities include:[7]

Activities

Partnerships

Partnership with Qatar Charity

The Turkish Red Crescent has recently begun to partner with Qatar Charity (QC) on various humanitarian projects.

In December 2016, the Turkish Red Crescent together with QC made a $10 million deal with the Turkish government to provide services for Syrian refugees in Turkey over the next five years. Kerem Kinik, head of the organization added "We have common areas of interest such as Palestine, Iraq and Somalia... this collaboration is just a beginning".[17]

In June 2016, the organization and QC provided aid to victims of flooding and violence in Beledweyne, Somalia.[18] Somalia has lost much of its rural areas to al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaeda that consistently carries out attacks throughout the country.[19]

Partnership with Turkish government

Following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, the Turkish Red Crescent backed the Turkish government, sending a letter to hundreds of international aid organizations and NGOs, including to organizations of the United Nations and Red Crescents in 191 total countries.[20] Like the government, the Turkish Red Crescent blamed the Gülen movement (which the government of Turkey considers a terrorist organization) for the coup attempt.

Global Gathering

In November 6–11, 2017, the International Red Cross and the Turkish Red Crescent movement brought together 190 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. Some major issues they discussed were: migration where they addressed prioritizing safety and assistance, nuclear weapons where they were working towards their elimination, and health where they addressed mental health and psycho social needs. Other issues included the need to involve affected people in relief and recovery efforts; the use of explosive weapons in popular areas; and the looming threat of epidemics and pandemics.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 5 March 2010 . The history of the emblems . 2009-04-14 . International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC . official site . the emblem adopted was formed by reversing the colours of the Swiss flag.
  2. Web site: 13 November 2013 . Red Crescent Archives . 2018-03-27 . hazine.info.
  3. Web site: 2023-03-27 . Türk Kizilay: Providing emergency relief to those affected by the Kahramanmaraş earthquake . 2023-04-29 . Milwaukee Independent . en-US.
  4. Web site: Türk Kızılayı Anasayfa. Kızılayı. Türk. www.kizilay.org.tr. tr. 2018-03-27.
  5. News: Senior Western official: Links between Turkey and ISIS are now 'undeniable'. Business Insider. 2018-03-27. en.
  6. Servet-i Fünun, Issue 1336 of 8 February 1917: Cited page: Page here.
  7. Web site: The Turkish Red Crescent Society, from past to present. www.redcross.int. 2018-03-27. 2016-05-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160504114705/http://www.redcross.int/EN/mag/magazine2007_2/12-13.html. dead.
  8. Web site: In Türkiye and Syria, Red Cross, Red Crescent Teams Responding to Earthquake . American Red Cross . 11 February 2023 . 12 February 2023.
  9. Web site: Türk Kızılayı Türk Kızılay. Kızılayı. Türk. www.kizilay.org.tr. tr. 2018-03-27.
  10. Web site: Türk Kızılayı Türk Kızılay. Kızılayı. Türk. www.kizilay.org.tr. tr. 2018-03-27.
  11. Web site: Turkish Red Crescent aims to help 31M people in 2018. Anadolu Agency. 2018-03-27.
  12. Web site: Türk Kızılayı Türk Kızılay. Kızılayı. Türk. www.kizilay.org.tr. tr. 2018-03-27.
  13. Web site: Türk Kızılayı Türk Kızılay. Kızılayı. Türk. www.kizilay.org.tr. tr. 2018-03-27.
  14. Web site: Türk Kızılayı Türk Kızılay. Kızılayı. Türk. www.kizilay.org.tr. tr. 2018-03-27.
  15. Web site: Türk Kızılayı Türk Kızılay. Kızılayı. Türk. www.kizilay.org.tr. tr. 2018-03-27.
  16. News: Global gathering to shape future of world's largest humanitarian movement. 2017-10-31. International Committee of the Red Cross. 2018-03-27. en.
  17. News: Turkey and Qatar launch joint aid campaign for Syrians. 2016-12-13. Middle East Monitor. 2018-03-27. en-GB.
  18. News: Turkey, Qatar launch joint aid campaign in Somalia - World Bulletin. World Bulletin. 2018-03-27.
  19. News: Who are Somalia's al-Shabab?. 2017-12-22. BBC News. 2018-03-27. en-GB.
  20. Web site: Turkish Red Crescent sends coup letter to 191 countries. Azvision. en. 2018-03-27.

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