Headquarters Ankara, Turkey | ||
Type Charitable organization Founded 1868 (as Hilâl-i Ahmer Cemiyeti)
1935 Website | ||
Turkish Red Crescent (Turkish: Türk Kızılayı (official) or Kızılay (for short)) is the largest humanitarian organization in Turkey and is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Contents
- History
- Activities
- Criticism
- Partnership with Qatar Charity
- Skepticism surrounding Qatar Charity
- Purported propaganda machine for Turkish government
- References
The organization was founded under the Ottoman Empire in 1868, partly in response to the experience of the Crimean War, 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 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.
The organization has also encountered criticism for its alleged direct links to major terrorist organizations, as well as indirect ties through groups like Qatar Charity and the Turkish government.
History
The organization was founded under the Ottoman Empire on 11 June 1868 and was named "Hilâl-i Ahmer Cemiyeti".
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 (1877–78), 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:
Activities
Criticism
The organization has garnered criticism for various ties to terrorism, brought on by a recent partnership with Qatar Charity (QC), as well as for allegedly providing ISIS with firearms. The Turkish Red Crescent has also been reputed as a propaganda machine for the Turkish government.
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”.
In June 2016, the organization and QC provided aid to victims of flooding and violence in Beledweyne, Somalia. 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.
Skepticism surrounding Qatar Charity
QC has purportedly provided millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to victims in Qatar and throughout the world since its founding in 1992. However, the organization has historically been discovered as a financier for terrorist groups.
QC’s ties to al-Qaeda date back to 1993. Osama bin Laden directly stated that QC funds had been utilized in a terrorist operation. Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl, former senior al-Qaeda lieutenant, confirmed this report following conversations with bin Laden:
“[Al-Fadl] understood from conversations with Bin Laden and others in al Qaeda that charities would receive funds that could be withdrawn in cash and a portion of the money used for legitimate relief purposes and another portion diverted for al Qaeda operations”.
QC also has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and has participated in terrorist activities both in Libya and Sudan. The Sudan Tribune reported in February 2015 that the organization was “building housing complexes in remote and isolated areas to harbor and train extremists groups to destabilize security and stability in Africa and some Arab countries”.
Purported propaganda machine for Turkish government
Following a coup of the Republic of Turkey carried out by the Fetullah Terror Organization (FETO) on July 15, 2016, the Turkish Red Crescent sent a letter to hundreds of international aid organizations and NGOs, including to organizations of the United Nations and Red Crescents in 191 total countries. The letter condemned the attacks and warned of the dangers of the group. In defense of the government, the organization stated:
“Above all, it was the Turkish nation which thwarted the plot. It displayed historic solidarity as it took to the streets and remained defiant. Throughout the process, all political parties, members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly [parliament] and the people stood firmly by democracy, democratic politics, democratic institutions and the constitution”.
Turkey has been widely speculated as a conduit for ISIS efforts and operations. In 2014 a former ISIS fighter publicly confirmed that “ISIS saw the Turkish army as its ally…ISIS had to be a Turkish ally because only through Turkey they were able to deploy ISIS fighters to northern parts of the Kurdish cities and towns in Syria”.
Certain reports also implicate the Turkish government as a direct participant in ISIS’ oil trade.