Red Crescent delivers aid to Turkmen in Iraq

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Red Crescent is sending humanitarian aid to Iraq since June. AA Photo

The Turkish Red Crescent distributed aid to at least 500 Turkmen families fleeing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq’s northern province of Kirkuk on Dec. 29, 2014.  The aid packages were distributed at the Turkmen Civilian Society Center and the Turkmen Women Association Center in the province.

Aydın Maruf, a member of parliament representing the Iraqi Turkmen Front, and Turkish Red Crescent Director-General Ahmet Lütfi Akar were present during the aid delivery.

 Akar said the Turkish Red Crescent has been sending humanitarian aid to Iraq since June when the conflicts with ISIL escalated. The director-general said the aid was being delivered to everybody without “discrimination on the basis of race, language and religion.” 

“We delivered food packages to our Turkmen brothers in Kirkuk today. The city of Kirkuk means a lot to us. We consider it our duty to look after all our brothers in Iraq,” Akar said.

 He also said they considered Arabs, Turkmens, Kurds, Ezidis and Christians as brothers and sisters.
“With our help, we try to reach anyone that needs it,” he added.

 The Turkish humanitarian agency recently also sent 200 truck-loads of aid to Iraq.

 The ISIL terrorist organization recently captured large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, and declared what it calls a cross-border Islamic caliphate. The group has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others in both countries.

Established 146 years

ago, the Turkish Red Crescent is one of the oldest humanitarian agencies in the world that helps people from Turkey, and globally, in crises or natural disasters.