Turkey's IHH plans to aid 3M needy on Eid al-Adha

Interview with Durmus Aydin, secretary-general of IHH Turkey's IHH plans to aid 3M needy on Eid al-Adha

-Meat from animals sacrificed to be distributed among poor in 90 countries and regions

By Nilay Kar Onum

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) is planning to distribute aid to 3 million needy people globally during Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday, according to an official from the group.

Several Muslim-majority countries including Turkey will mark the first day of the four-day holiday, also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice, on Aug. 11 this year.

"The IHH has carried out our [aid] work in over 140 countries and regions so far, and we are prepared for this year's Eid al-Adha work. We've bought animals to be sacrificed and our teams are getting ready," the foundation's secretary-general, Durmus Aydin, told Anadolu Agency in Istanbul.

"We will distribute aid to 90 countries and regions this year, from Central Asia and the Middle East to Africa," Aydin said.

Eid meat distribution will focus on people in refugee camps and war-torn and impoverished regions.

The focus this year is expected to be on countries and regions such as Syria, Myanmar's Rakhine State, Yemen and Palestine.

"We delivered more than 57,000 shares of Qurban (sacrificial meat) to needy people through the support of donators last year," Aydin said.

"Refugee camps are surely important to us. Refugee camps in Rakhine State, Darfur and Syria are a top priority for us because millions of people were forced to leave their homes. They have been trying to survive."

The IHH has been carrying out aid projects in war-torn Syria since the country's devastating conflict began in 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity, as well as in Rakhine State and Sudan's Darfur region.

Sharing happiness

The Istanbul-based agency plans to reach around 1 million needy in Asia and around 1 million in the Middle East and Africa.

"Along with other regions, we are planning to distribute Qurban meat to 3 million people," Aydin said.

Some 200-300 IHH volunteers from Turkey assist the Eid al-Adha aid activities globally every year.

"They are all experienced people. They go to the region before the Eid and they buy animals to be sacrificed and check out if they are in good shape," Aydin said.

While distributing the aid, volunteers may face some hardships due to conflicts, weather conditions or regional problems, but the most important thing is to share what you have with those who are in need, according to Aydin.

The biggest happiness for IHH volunteers is to see the joy of people when they receive the aid, he stressed.

"Thanks to the Eid, you come closer to your needy brothers and sisters and feel what they live. Feeling this emotion together is very moving, in particular at refugee camps," he added.

The IHH secretary-general called on people globally not to forget to lend a helping hand to people in need and those who were forced to leave their countries.

"Everyone may become a refugee one day in this world. I hope philanthropists will give the necessary support [to needy people] this year as well," Aydin said.

IHH has been actively working across the world for 27 years to distribute sacrificial meat to needy people.

Grateful for support

Those who are receiving aid from the group expressed their gratitude for the generous support.

"IHH is very caring to refugees. They are always finding ways to help these [needy] people," Saiful Islam Siddique Ahmed, a Rohingya Muslim who took refuge in Bangladesh, told Anadolu Agency.

"Initially, they provided food and meals. They constructed houses, and now IHH is working to improve living standards [there]," he said, adding the aid group's activities are very systematic.

"If they had not reached out to us, we would be facing many problems such as education-based problems and food shortages," said Semra Sumeyra Mahmud al-Aveyli, a Palestinian living in Khan Yunis, a city in the Gaza Strip.

Muhammed Ahmed Galib, a Yemeni refuge in the country's eastern Maarib province, also praised Turkey and the aid group's efforts to support needy people.

"IHH has eased the pain of many people who were forced to leave their homes and has lent a helping hand to them, particularly in food and health fields," Galib said.

"I thank IHH, the Turkish state, and people for the aid that they provide, their generosity, their efforts, and thank them as their aid does not have any other purpose than humanitarian aid."