Turkish agencies provide Eid meat to poor across world

By Aybuke Inal

ISTANBUL (AA) - Thousands of people in need around the world have received meat from animals sacrificed for Eid al-Adha by Turkish aid agencies.

The majority of Muslim countries around the world marked the first day of the four-day Eid Al-Adha holiday on Sunday.

The Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV) provided Eid meat in 149 different countries across the world.

Thousands of people in Turkey donated their sacrifices to TDV for distribution to the needy.

“With the support of philanthropic Turkish people, we successfully reached people in need in 72 provinces in Turkey and 149 countries in the world,” said Mehmet Savas Polat, general director of TDV, in a statement.

“Thank God, like every year, we have carried the joy of the Eid to the world,” said Polat.

The Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) provided aid in 51 different countries in Balkans, Central Asia, the Middle East and South America.

Kizilay Chairman Kerem Kinik said that philanthropists, who gave great support to the Red Crescent's charity efforts, also showed great interest in the Eid campaign.

Kinik also thanked for the donations and said Kizilay will continue to reach people in need across the world.

Separately, the Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) distributed Eid meat to 900 families in Western Balkans.

“We are distributing eid meat in Kosovo, Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other Balkan countries this year,” said Osman Atalay, one of the board of trustees for IHH, to Anadolu Agency.

IHH also distributed aid in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as people in the region celebrate their first Eid as an autonomous region.

*Zeynep Rakipoglu in Istanbul and Dzihat Aliju in Skopje contributed to this story.