'Intangible benefits main reason for humanitarian aid'

By Mehmet Ozturk and Mehmet Kara

ISTANBUL - Intangible benefits are the main motive for humanitarian aid, said a top Turkish humanitarian group official, adding he would rather take his last breath not in bed but while helping oppressed people all around the world.

Ismail Hakki Turunc, vice president of the Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay), who has been involved with both local and international humanitarian aid groups for more than 40 years, sat down with Anadolu Agency to share his experiences, suggestions for aid workers, and developments in the field.

Drawing from his decades inspiring and supporting aid groups in his professional life, Turunc said that relief activities have two levels, namely, individual and organizational.

He described the opportunity to provide humanitarian aid as "God's gift and grace" to him.

"I could have asked for social status or other things, but in any other field I wouldn’t be able to carry out these activities, which have a great spiritual response,” he said.

“I'd rather take my dying breath, not in bed, but in a place we’re working, maybe in a corner of Uganda or Mongolia while helping people."

Turunc stated that Turkey's international humanitarian relief operations are historically based on the charity traditions of the Ottoman Empire, and Turkey would always provide aid regardless of peoples' beliefs, nationality, or color.

Saying that Turkey has given a helping hand to all countries suffering from floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, or hunger through state institutions or other groups, he added:

"We have always acted without asking about the religion, race, or language of the oppressed. We’re not going to these places in order to get something in return.

"None of the [Turkish] groups providing help have a hidden agenda. We always get positive feedback. The [helped] people are now sure that we’re different than others.

“Unfortunately, I saw how some of the Western NGOs went to these places for commercial or other interests."

- 'Working in mud, rain, and bullets'

Turunc said he had worked to deliver much-needed aid in over 100 countries.

"Aid volunteers operate in mud and snow, under the rain, bad road conditions; they work amid bullets in Somalia, on the mountains of Kashmir, in the forests of Mexico, Pakistan, and Indonesia, in different parts of Aceh, and without knowing when a bomb could be dropped on them in Syria."

He said that one of an aid group’s main focuses should be acting in line with the feelings of the oppressed. "Some people can't even look us in the eye while being helped, some can't even open their doors," he said, adding that the groups should act like a loving parent.

He added that the humanitarian aid model had recently changed, "Now, instead of giving people fish, we teach them how to fish," he said.

"The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, the [state] Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency [TIKA], and some other groups have begun to focus on new projects that will improve the provision of aid."

The needy "are given training regarding the goods to be sold within the country or exported," he added.

- Intangible benefits

Turunc went on to say that giving aid without expecting anything in return forges bonds of trust between the aid workers and people of the region, underpinning the intangible benefits as the main motive of the humanitarian aid.

He said that the commercial ventures which locals launch with Turkish companies are a win-win for both sides and contribute to countries’ development.

"We also help in the promotion of Turkey. For instance, when I went to Mongolia, I heard people saying, 'Over the past decade we've started to get a better understanding of Turkey.' Some businessmen, through this promotion, came to Turkey and made serious investments."

According to Turunc, a lack of funds is no obstacle as long as "you have a sense of charity, helping, and sharing."

"Then you can turn your budget into benevolence. Our ancestors in the Ottoman era didn't have the best conditions, but they had a strong sense [of charity]," he said.

Turunc underlined that Turkey is the world’s most charitable nation in terms of humanitarian aid expenditures based on its gross domestic product (GDP).

"As an individual who has been involved in relief efforts for the last 40 years, we see that the vision of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has led to a more organized structure of charity organizations and aid reaching the needy," he added.