Turkish agency gives out Ramadan aid to Kazakh families

By Ozgun Tiran and Mahmut Serdar Alakus

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AA) - A Turkish charity group on Thursday distributed food aid in Kazakhstan, aid group officials said.

A state-run aid group linked to Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), the Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV) handed out the Ramadan packages to 40 families in the Ismihan mosque in the southeastern Almaty city.

Besides food aid, the TDV officials also distributed sweets and balloons to kids.

Galip Akin, the religious services adviser of Turkey's embassy in the recently renamed Kazakh capital Nur Sultan, said the foundation also organizes iftar, fast-breaking, meals during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in Kazakhstan.

Fasting dawn to dusk during Ramadan, is one of the five pillars of Islam.

The aid establishes a "bridge of brotherhood" from Turkey to Kazakstan, Akin told Anadolu Agency.

TDV's Hajj and Umrah Accounting Manager Akif Ertekin said that the charity group distributed aid to 45 families in the same region on Wednesday.

The TDV runs educational, cultural, social and humanitarian projects in more than 145 countries.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev