Kimse Yok Mu becomes first charity to reach Philippines from Turkey

Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) was the first such organization from Turkey to send aid to the Philippines, which is struggling to recover after being hit on Friday by Typhoon Haiyan.

Reaching the area with military helicopters, a team of 10 people began search and rescue activities and 25 tons of food packages were distributed to 6,500 victims in cooperation with Philippine officials.

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Turkish charities ready to deliver aid during Eid al-Adha

Various Turkish charity organizations have wrapped up their preparations to deliver aid, including sacrificial meat and other forms of assistance, to people in need across Turkey and around the world during Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions around the globe.

Turkish charities are especially busy during the Eid al-Adha season, collecting money and sacrificing animals, packaging the meat and distributing it to the less fortunate. The main aim is to help ease the suffering of people in need and promote fraternity among nations. Aid organizations such as Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There), the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), Doctors Worldwide, Cansuyu, Deniz Feneri, the Aziz Mahmûd Hüdâyi Foundation and Yardımeli are just some of the organizations that will slaughter sacrificial animals in Turkey’s 81 provinces and more than 114 countries in the world.

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Turkey in humanitarian and development aid

Abdullah Bozkurt

Turkey has been a fast-emerging donor country in the last couple of years with grants, loans and donations made to foreign countries on the rise. The three-year average of the official development aid between 2010 and 2012 is calculated as $1.6 billion, which is a new record in Turkey's history in the area of humanitarian and development assistance. Turkey's development aid increased almost 30 percent, by $1.2 billion, in 2011 and 98 percent, by $2.4 billion, in 2012 compared to previous years. As the traditional donors' shares have decreased emerging economies like Turkey have been coming along to make up for the decline.

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Samples of Kimse Yok Mu Ramadan Aid Activities Worldwide

Kimse Yok Mu, set to reach out to 103 countries as a part of its Ramadan campaign, has launched the food aid deliveries.

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How Turkey is emerging as a development partner in Africa

Prof. Alpaslan Özerdem*

A displaced Somalian man walks away with food
 at a centre run by Turkish aid agency in the
Howlwadaag district of southern Mogadishu.
Photograph: Feisal Omar/Reuters

Turkey has emerged as a generous donor for humanitarian crises across the world over the past five years, especially in the context of Africa.

In 2011, while official development assistance (ODA) fell in 16 DAC countries, Turkey's net ODA increased by over 38%. Following the 'Turkey – Africa Co-operation summit' in Istanbul in August 2008, the African Union declared Turkey a 'strategic partner' and in May 2010, Istanbul was the venue for the 4th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

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Let's not forget Superstorm Sandy's victims

Steph Goralnick*

Photo by Steph Goralnick via Instagram

(CNN) -- When Superstorm Sandy hit New York, it blacked out Lower Manhattan and crippled the mass transit system. I was fortunate that the rising water from the East River never reached my home in Brooklyn. But it was heartbreaking to see many parts of my beloved city wounded and so many people struggling.

When the ferry service was partially restored, I took the first boat with a friend to Lower Manhattan at dawn. We walked through the financial district -- normally bustling with activity -- where the traffic lights were dead and the streets were eerily quiet.

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Turkish aid foundations working to resolve water problem in Africa

Numerous Turkish aid foundations are working to resolve Africa's long-standing water supply problem by digging wells in various countries across the continent, with over 1,500 sunk so far.

Africa suffers from a lack of drinking water due to drought, which is common across the continent. Research being conducted into the issue shows that 4,900 children die every day in Africa due to a lack of drinking water or diseases caused by drinking contaminated water.

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Turks provide aid in Mogadishu, where others fear to tread

Alan Boswell *

(Photo: Today's Zaman)

On the edge of Somalia's battered capital of Mogadishu, on a hilltop overlooking the Indian Ocean, there's an unlikely oasis of white tents laid out in perfect rows, where foreigners mingle with locals, a bakery provides free fresh bread daily and even the sandy floors are swept. Flapping audaciously in the seaside breeze above it all is the symbol of Mogadishu's newest foreign patron, the red and white flag of Turkey.

"In other camps, there is not enough food, the tents are too small, there is no medical care. Those are not problems here," said 70-year old Mahmoud Mohammed Afrah, who fled to Mogadishu two years ago and now, for the first time, has two tents for his large family.

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