The Turkish Red Crescent is expanding its humanitarian aid activities and development projects around the world, particularly in African countries, to reach out to the needy, wherever they are.
Turkish Red Crescent Vice President Naci Yorulmaz discussed the nongovernmental organization's vision and future plans for Africa, the Middle East and the world in an exclusive interview with Daily Sabah in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu.
Yorulmaz underscored that the Turkish Red Crescent is a quite active member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC). Stressing that the Turkish Red Crescent believes it should be wherever there is a crisis, the vice president said, "The Turkish Red Crescent is always one of the first to arrive in crisis-hit areas without paying attention to religion, language and ethnic origin."
The organization has been helping Somalis since a serious famine hit the country in 2011, one of the first humanitarian aid organizations on the scene. "The Turkish Red Crescent mobilized to meet the needs of needy Somalians when nobody mentioned their problems in the world," he said.
When asked about developments in the country since the Turkish Red Crescent's first humanitarian operations, Yorulmaz said that both Somali authorities and locals are aware of the changes.
The Turkish Red Crescent will feed hundreds of thousands of people during Ramadan as three ships, each with 15,000 tons of food and humanitarian aid, arrive in Somalia, Yemen and South Sudan in the next few weeks.
Apart from food and humanitarian aid distribution from time to time, the NGO provides thousands of Somali families with bread and food on a daily basis through mobile bakery and kitchen projects.
Stationed in central Mogadishu, a mobile bakery produces more than 4,000 units of bread every day, and the mobile kitchen feeds around 7,000 families daily.
Stressing the correlation between humanitarian aid and development projects, Yorulmaz said the Turkish Red Crescent aims to raise awareness in the world that the African region needs development projects as much as it needs humanitarian aid.
"It is not providing solutions when one only distributes food or fulfills short term requirements. It will be a gain for us if we can express the need for developments projects in the region on every platform," Yorulmaz said. The vice president said that the aid organizations should have sustainable measures beforehand as Somalia is faced with drought and famine every four or five years.
As for development projects, it has offered support to the Mogadishu Municipality. Also, the NGO is developing several projects in different areas, including garbage collection, road construction, wastewater reclamation and debris removal to rehabilitate the people of Somalia and reconstruct the cities.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Red Crescent has teamed up with the Britain-based NGO One Family and singer Maher Zain in humanitarian projects. Representatives of One Family and Zain helped organize the Turkish Red Crescent in Mogadishu.