Türkiye’s Red Crescent (Kızılay) Chairperson Kerem Kınık on Friday stepped down from his post following allegations of the institution selling tents in the aftermath of the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes.
Earlier in the day, Kınık assembled the Red Crescent executive board, which then called for an extraordinary meeting where it ruled first assistant Chair Fatma Meriç Yılmaz would be the interim chairperson until a new chief is assigned.
Kınık, who had been at the humanitarian aid organization’s helm since 2016, later changed his Twitter bio to read “Red Crescent volunteer.”
He had recently been under increasing fire for an alleged sale of much-needed tents to the independent aid organization AHBAP after the earthquakes that left over 50,000 dead and millions displaced and homeless in Türkiye’s southeast.
In his defense to a parliamentary inspection committee in March, he claimed neither he nor the AHBAP president had had “any idea” about the sale.
“If they had asked me, I wouldn’t have let them send the tents to AHBAP,” he argued.
When asked whether he would resign the same day, he had insisted he would “not act based on rumors.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally addressed the controversy earlier this week and expressed grief and dissatisfaction over the incident.
“The Red Crescent cannot engage in such a business. This error must be rectified,” he stressed. “Because we have encouraged the Red Crescent to become more active in manufacturing tents, they should not have been least bothered when it comes to tents.”
The president assured the rehabilitation efforts in the disaster-stricken region, including the removal of mounds of rubble, were “largely completed” and deliveries of freshly constructed temporary residences for survivors were already underway.
“On the other hand, we’re quickly building permanent homes and I believe our citizens there will be even more relieved once they have permanent residences,” he noted.
