Turkish Red Crescent (Turkish: ''Türk Kızılay'' (official) or ''Kızılay'' (for short)) is the largest humanitarian organization in Turkey and is part of the
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...
.
The organization was founded in the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1868, partly in response to the experience of the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
, in which disease overshadowed battle as the main cause of death and suffering among
Turkish soldiers. It was the first Red Crescent society of its kind and one of the most important charity organizations in the
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
world.
The society is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based social service institution providing unconditional aid and service, and is a corporate body governed by special legal provisions.
History
The organization was founded under the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
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 Cross).
It later took on the names:
* "Ottoman Red Crescent Society" in 1877
* "Turkey’s Red Crescent Community" in 1923
* "Turkish Red Crescent Community" in 1935
* "Turkish Red Crescent Society" in 1947
It was renamed Kızılay by
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
in 1935,
after the foundation of the Republic of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
in 1923.
Beginning with the
Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)
The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histor ...
, 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.
![A Turkish Red Crescent Staff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/A_Turkish_Red_Crescent_Staff.jpg)
Examples of disaster relief activities include:
*
2003 Bam earthquake
*
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
*
2005 Kashmir earthquake
*
2006 Lebanon War
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...
*
Syrian Civil War
Activities
*
Disaster management: Operations in 78 different countries in natural and human related disasters in the last 10 years
*
Blood donations provided through 17 Regional Blood Centers, 65 Blood Donation Centers with more than 150 mobile blood donation vehicles Kinik, the head of the Turkish Red Crescent, said "Nearly 2.4 million people have donated blood to the Red Crescent in 2017, and there were 274,000 stem cell donations."
*
International aid
In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another.
Ai ...
*
Health care
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
: Hospitals in
Konya
Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it ...
,
Kayseri
Kayseri (; el, Καισάρεια) is a large Industrialisation, industrialised List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. The Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality area is comp ...
and medical centers throughout
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
*
First aid
First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...
: 33 First aid centers throughout
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
providing healthcare and first aid instruction. First aid training provided to a total of 100,000 people
*
Immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
and
Refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. Services: Assists the relevant public authorities in meeting the needs of refugees in Turkey, including shelter, health, and education. Runs 23 camps for
the Refugees of the Syrian Civil War
* Youth & Educational Services: Projects aimed at youth to increase community awareness regarding disasters. Provides scholarships and runs youth camps
*
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s: During and after the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons the Turkish Red Crescent was an advocate, urging states to eliminate nuclear weapons
* Operations overseas: The Turkish Red Crescent now has permanent representatives in Somalia, Iraq, Palestine, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Yemen in order to lend a helping hand to the vulnerable people of those war- torn countries.
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
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
... this collaboration is just a beginning".
In June 2016, the organization and QC provided aid to victims of flooding and violence in
Beledweyne
Beledweyne ( so, Beledweyne, ar, بلد وين, it, Belet Uen) is a city in central Somalia. Beledweyne District is the capital city of the Hiran region.
The city is situated in the Shebelle Valley riverine near the Ethiopian border, 210 miles ...
, Somalia. Somalia has lost much of its rural areas to
al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization with links to
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
that consistently carries out attacks throughout the country.
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
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
and
Red Crescents in 191 total countries.
Like the government, the Turkish Red Crescent blamed the
Gülen movement
The Gülen movement ( tr, Gülen hareketi), referred to by its participants as Hizmet ("service") or Cemaat ("community") and since 2016 by the Government of Turkey as FETÖ ("Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation" or, more commonly, "Fethullah T ...
(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.
Gallery
File:21 nisan 2012 gazipaşa gezisi 074.JPG, A Bloodmobile
A bloodmobile is a mobile blood donation center. It is a vehicle (usually a bus or a large van) equipped with everything necessary for a blood donation procedure. Blood drives involving bloodmobiles usually happen in public places such as coll ...
of Turkish Red Crescent in Gazipaşa
Gazipaşa () is a town and district of Antalya Province on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey, 180 km east of the city of Antalya. Gazipaşa is a quiet rural district famous for its bananas, oranges and international airport of Gazi ...
File:Türk Kızılayı ambulansı.JPG, 1938 Ford Model 81C ambulance in Turkey
Türk Kızılay Mobile Child Friendly Space.jpg, A view of Mobile Child Friendly Space operated by the Turkish Red Crescent
See also
*
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...
References
External links
Turkish Red Crescent official website
*
{{Authority control
Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies
Organizations established in 1868
Organizations based in Ankara
1868 establishments in the Ottoman Empire
Medical and health organizations based in Turkey
Emergency medical services in Turkey