Association for the Support of Contemporary Life () is a non-profit NGO in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. The main office is in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and there are 103 branch offices nationwide. The association helps girls across Turkey to obtain an education, ultimately promoting gender equality.

History

Association for the Support of Contemporary Life (abbreviated ÇYDD) was founded on 10 February 1989 by a group of Turkish female academicians headed by

Aysel Ekşi Aysel Ekşi (26 January 1934 – 14 May 2015) was a Turkish psychiatrist and professor. Early life and education Ekşi graduated from the University of Ankara, Medical Faculty in 1960. She worked in Middlesex Hospital and Goodmayes Hospital ...

in Istanbul.Chronology from the ÇYDD page
/ref> Next year

Türkan Saylan Türkan Saylan (13 December 1935 – 18 May 2009) was a Turkish medical doctor in dermatology, academic, writer, teacher and social activist. She was famous for fighting leprosy, and for founding a charitable foundation called "Association for t ...

was elected as the chairperson of the ÇYDD; from then on she became the symbol of ÇYDD. In the same year branch offices of ÇYDD began to be opened in other cities. In 1995, a subsidiary foundation of ÇYDD was founded. On 18 May 2009, Türkan Saylan died and in the next week, Aysel Çelikel a former government minister became the next chairperson. ( Aysel Çelikel was the Minister of Justice of Turkey at 57th Cabinet.)

Purpose

ÇYDD supports the modernization

reforms Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

Kemal Atatürk Kemal may refer to: ;People * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish politician and the first president of Turkey * Kemal (name), a Turkish name ;Places * Kemalpaşa, İzmir Province, Turkey * Mustafakemalpaşa, Bursa Province, Turkey ;See also *"Kema ...

. The official statement of ÇYDD is: :The Association for Supporting Contemporary Life is a non-governmental organization, working voluntarily with its competencies and experience, aiming to protect Atatürk’s principles and revolutions, to reach contemporary society via contemporary education for contemporary people and to carry Turkey above the contemporary civilization level. ÇYDD is especially active in fighting against the gender discrimination and illiteracy of women. Its motto is "Future assurance of Modern Turkey".

Achievements

*ÇYDD have awarded scholarships to 117,147 students. (54,657 girls in primary and secondary level and 63,497 students in university level) *ÇYYD has commissioned 130 schools or dormitory buildings *ÇYDD have donated 319,000 books to various schools and established 20 libraries *Following

1999 İzmit earthquake An earthquake of moment magnitude 7.6 struck Kocaeli Province, Turkey on 17 August 1999. According to official figures, at least 18,373 people died and 48,901 people were injured during the earthquake, and 5,840 people were missing. At least 15 ...

, ÇYDD established and opened 17 rehabilitation and community centers especially for the women and the children. *ÇYDD established Human Rights Training at Coffee Houses. (This project is supported by

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

.)Project page of ÇYDD

References

External links

* {{authority control Organizations based in Turkey Gender studies organizations Organizations based in Istanbul 1989 establishments in Turkey Organizations established in 1989 Secularism in Turkey Secularist organizations