Turkey’s humanitarian role worldwide
Turkey is presently hosting almost 3 million refugees fleeing war zone regions and conflict, including 2.7 million Syrian refugees, according to official statistics.
Turkey’s official development aid supplies to more than 140 countries across the globe. Turkey’s successful provision of humanitarian and emergency aid is thanks to several institutions, including the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA), the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), and the Turkish Red Crescent (or Kizilay).
Turkey’s development aid provided via TİKA more than quadrupled from $85 million in 2002 to $3.59 billion in 2014. Over the same period, total humanitarian aid from Turkey increased 47 percent to $6.4 billion, a rise of 42-fold. According to preliminary figures, in 2015 Turkey’s official development aid reached $3.91 billion.
TIKA drilled over 1,000 water wells in 2013-2014, including 423 in Asia and 337 in Africa. TIKA also provided over 250 health centers with equipment during the same period. It has also supplied refrigerators, ovens, eating/cooking utensils, and food packages to refugees fleeing Daesh terrorism living in camps in northern Iraq’s Kirkuk, Erbil, Dohuk and nearby areas.
It also launched an emergency campaign for Somali, which suffers from drought, supplying food and healthcare equipment. When Pakistan was hit by an earthquake two years ago, 12,000 food packages were supplied to victims of the quake. TIKA also runs charity activities in Palestine.
The Turkish Red Crescent is number two in world rankings with its ability to provide emergency shelter and food for 300,000 people. Carrying out humanitarian aid activities in countries and regions such as Pakistan, Chad, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Arakan, Palestine, Mauritania, Senegal, Niger, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Philippines, Iraq and Lebanon, the Turkish Red Crescent was also the first relief organization to help disaster victims after the Pakistan floods.
[Anadolu Agency]
This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.