IHH Humanitarian Relief Magazine 45

We were in

disaster-hit Japan

Orphan Days from

Lebanon to Patani

04

34

IHH teams in Libya

humanitarian

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APRILMAYJUNE

faaliyetler

EXPENSE OF AN OPERATION IS€60/$80

By the successfully performed cataract operations 50.000 Africans regained their sight. Our goal is to bring light to 100.000 Africans.

+90 212 631 2121

www.ihh.org.tr

DON’T BE BLIND TO THEIR BLINDNESS

Dear readers,

IHH, as a foundation that is active in 125 countries and regions in the Far East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Latin America, in addition to perform humanitarian activities including conducting long term projects to help orphans, providing cataract operations, building water wells, and more, also continuing to deliver emergency aid to the regions struck by war, natural disasters and crises; with the support of volunteers and benefactors.

IHH teams brought emergency aid to Brazil, Venezuela, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, where hit by natural disasters in last three months; IHH has visited refugees in various parts of the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Turkey and delivered winter aid to Jammu Kashmir and Bangladesh. In addition to these aid works, our activities in various fields, such as supporting orphans, providing cataract surgery, building water wells and supplying refugee camps... etc. has been continued. You can find detailed information about our relief works in the Activities section of this magazine.

As IHH, we have been closely following the public unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq and other regional countries. IHH has started emergency aid activities in the areas of public unrest, by delivering food supplies, hot meals, drinking water and blankets to the refugees and people who have been forced to flee the country due to the violence. On the other hand, as the number of injured increases in Libya, IHH is delivering medicine and medical equipment to hospitals in al-Bayda and Benghazi cities. Here we share Tunisia and Libya observations of our emergency aid teams conducting aid works on the ground.

In addition to a detailed report on “9 Projects for 9 Martyrs”, we also present a report on Orphan Days, which were carried out between March 16 and 31.

With the hopes that this bulletin will provide you a great deal of information…

April - May - June 2011Sayı: 45

Owner on behalf of IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation

Atty. F. Bülent YILDIRIM

Executive EditorMurat YILMAZ

EditorAmine TUNA ERTÜRK

Editorial BoardAhmet Emin DAĞF. Zehra BAYRAKH. Zehra ÖZTÜRK

Osman ATALAYZeliha SAĞLAM

TranslationZenith

CorrectorJane Louise Kandur

DesignSİYAHMARTI ADVERTISING

Tel: +90 (216) 465 55 79

PrintingMavi Ofset

Tel: +90 (212) 549 25 30

AddressBüyük Karaman Caddesi

Taylasan Sokak No: 3Fatih-İSTANBUL/TURKEY

Tel: +90 (212) 631 21 21Faks: +90 (212) 621 70 51

[email protected]

editorial

EXPENSE OF AN OPERATION IS€60/$80

By the successfully performed cataract operations 50.000 Africans regained their sight. Our goal is to bring light to 100.000 Africans.

+90 212 631 2121

www.ihh.org.tr

DON’T BE BLIND TO THEIR BLINDNESS humanitarian

Orphan Days from

Lebanon to Patani

9 Projects for 9 Martyrs

IHH in Haiti

on the earthquake anniversary

IHH teams in LibyaOrphans of Mardin’s

Bilge Village are now

supported by Sponsor

Family System

Support to Zeytinburnu

Children with Autism

Educational Center

Holy Qur’an translated

into Hungarian

AGENDA SPOTLIGHT ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITIESACTIVITIES

ACTIVITIES

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humanitarian

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APRILMAYJUNE

We were in

disaster-hit Japan

ACTIVITIES: Winter aid to Jammu Kashmir 27

Aid for Arakan refugee camps in Bangladesh 28

Food aid to Iraqi refugees 29

Support to Palestinian refugees in Syria and Lebanon 29

Orphan activities 32

IHH team in Tunis 38

Flood relief in Venezuela 40

Emergency aid in Brazil 40

Rachel Corrie

Holy Qur’an translated

into HungarianThe Defne Y cargo ship

arrived in PakistanACTIVITIESACTIVITIES

ACTIVITIES

FUTURE

PROJECTS IN BRIEF

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

PEOPLE OF

GOOD DEEDS

51 54 68

27 30 34

IHH in Sri Lanka which hit by heavy rains 41

IHH teams in earthquake hit Pakistan 41

Food aid to Chechenian camps 43

Painting contest organized in Gaza 44

Historical encounter for the Mavi Marmara 46

The Freedom Flotilla won an award in Lebanon 48

TESiŞ Workers’ Union in Turkey raises money for Pakistan 48

A monument was built in the memory of Mavi Marmara in Spain 49

IHH received Human Rights Award 49

American peace activist Rachel Corrie’s family visited IHH 50

FOCUS: No fear after today … 58

Arab perestroika to surround entire world 62

IN THE FIELD: The light of history illuminates the day 66

Orphan Days from Lebanon to Patani

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Gönüllü Faaliyetleri

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IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation went to meet

orphans in 16 countries from Leba-non to Patani between the dates of 16th and 31st March. During Orphan Days, that is held for the fi rst time at this year, IHH teams visited regions where IHH holds regular and periodi-cal aid projects for the orphans. Th e ongoing projects are inspected on the ground and feasibility studies done for future projects. From now on, IHH will celebrate the dates between 16th and 31st March as Orphan Days.

In addition to having carried out relief works for the orphans in regions hit by war occupation and natural disas-ters since 1992, our foundation has

started to the Sponsor Family System in 2007, by which we have taken care of 16,150 orphans from 27 countries and regions in the world. IHH sup-ports orphans via the Sponsor Family System until they are able to stand on their own. Also, our social aid projects, such as special projects for Ramadan, the Qurban and education, continue.

In the Orphan Days, held between 16th and 31st March, we have carried out a variety of programs in 16 out of 27 countries, with our teams from Tur-key participating in these programs. Within the scope of Orphan Days, the visited countries and the organized relief activities are here as follows:

Country Project1 Afghanistan Clothing + stationery + health aid2 Arakan Health screening + wedding ceremony for orphaned

girls + circumcision3 Albania Clothing4 Burkina Faso Clothing5 Chad Blanket aid6 Ethiopia Health screening + stationery + clothing + picnic7 Palestine Award ceremony of the painting competition +

stationery aid8 Iraq Toys + stationery + clothing9 Kyrgyzstan Provision of required supplies of the orphanage10 Lebanon Clothing11 Pakistan Clothing12 Patani Clothing13 Somalia Health screening14 Sudan Clothing15 Turkey Provision of books and toys16 Tanzania /

ZanzibarHealth screening + visits to orphan families

cal aid projects for the orphans. Th e ongoing projects are inspected on the ground and feasibility studies done for future projects. From now on, IHH will celebrate the dates between 16th and 31st March as Orphan Days.

In addition to having carried out relief works for the orphans in regions hit by war occupation and natural disas-ters since 1992, our foundation has

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9 Projects for

9 Martyrs

In May 2010, 9 humanitarian aid volunteers in the

Freedom Flotilla, which set sail to lift the inhumane

embargo imposed on the people of Gaza and to de-

liver basic aid materials, lost their lives as a result

of the Israeli attack. Now, in order to cherish their

memories projects will be built in their hometowns

within the scope of “9 Projects for 9 Martyrs”.

Under the campaign of “9 Projects for 9 Martyrs”

the following will be constructed:

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9 Projects for

9 Martyrs

You can donate through tele-

donation, online donation, via

credit card or by visiting our

foundation center in person;

you can also contribute to

9 Projects for 9 Martyrs by

donating materials needed for

construction and interiors.

9 Projects for 9 Martyrs

Çetin Topçuoğlu Sports Centre in Adana

Fahri Yaldız Dormitory in Adıyaman

Ali Haydar Bengi Learning Centre in Diyarbakır

Cengiz Akyüz Learning Centre in İskenderun

Cengiz Songür Educational and Cultural Centre in İzmir

Necdet Yıldırım Dormitory in Istanbul

Cevdet Kılıçlar Educational and Cultural Centre in Istanbul

Furkan Doğan Educational and Cultural Centre in Kayseri

İbrahim Bilgen Dormitory in Siirt will be constructed

090807060504030201

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9 Projects for

9 Martyrs

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9 Projects for 9 Projects for 9 Projects for 9 Projects for 9 Projects for

9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs

Ali Haydar Bengi Learning Centre DİYARBAKIR

Cengiz Akyüz Learning CentreİSKENDERUNİSKENDERUNİSKENDERUN

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9 Projects for

9 Martyrs

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9 Projects for 9 Projects for 9 Projects for 9 Projects for 9 Projects for

9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs9 Martyrs

IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has started up learning centre projects in

İskenderun and Diyarbakır, as a contribution to the education of the younger generation with the sup-port of your donations. Each centre has the capac-ity of 120 students, including dormitories with the capacity of 64 students. Each centre will consist of 6 fl oors, including a basement and attic, 4 classroom, 8 dormitory rooms, an administrative unit, a library, a computer room, a sports hall, a dining hall, a masjid, bathroom, toilet, laundry room, cellar, kitchen, and other units.

Th e dormitory rooms of the centers are planned according to the international standards and a room is designed for 4 students to stay. Activity rooms are also included in the dormitories, to serve students as a socialization points for their healthy development.

Th e projects are to be completed one year after the fund has been raised, which have been planned and will be implemented by IHH.

Th e construction of each learning centre will be implemented on 2,800 m² plot, at a cost of €650,000; the costs of the interiors will be €200,000. Th e total cost of the building, except the plot, is €850,000.

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9 Martyrs

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Furkan Doğan Educational and Cultural Centre KAYSERİ

Cengiz SongürEducational andCultural Centre İZMİR

Cevdet Kılıçlar Educational and Cultural Centre İSTANBUL

David Segarra

(Documentary Film Maker-Venezuela)

I believe that Cevdet Kılıçlar Educational and Cultural

Centre will be very benefi cial. I think this will be

a very important project in order to keep Cevdet’s

memory alive as a person and as a journalist who

gave his life to show the truth to the other people. I

also believe that this project is very important to tell

about Cevdet and his role in the struggle for the free-

dom of people to the future generations.

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9 Martyrs

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IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has prepared projects to construct educational and cultural

centres in Istanbul, İzmir and Kayseri cities of Turkey. Th e centers will support the youth for education and will serve as a social centre to the youth for their development.

Each building has a 174-student capacity, including a sports hall, art studio, a library, auditorium, internet hall, study rooms, rest areas, masjid, an administrative unit, servant rooms, kitchen, bathroom, heating and cooling room, bak-ery and depot.

Th e project will be completed one year after the fund has been raised. Th e project is planned and will be implement-ed by IHH.

Th e construction of each educational and cultural centre on 3,450 m² plot will cost €750,000, with the interiors costing €200,000. Th e total cost of the building, except the plot, is €950,000.

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9 Martyrs

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İbrahim Bilgen DormitorySİİRT

Necdet Yıldırım DormitoryİSTANBUL

Fahri Yaldız DormitoryADIYAMAN

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9 Martyrs

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As a part of the projects, dormitory buildings that have a 96-student capacity will be built in Siirt, İstanbul

and Adıyaman cities of Turkey to serve the needy students. Activity rooms are included in the dormitories, helping stu-dents to develop socially by providing them social centers.

Each dormitory consists of 5 fl oors, including a basement and an attic, with study rooms, seminar halls, lobbies, a library, a sports hall, art studios, common areas, meeting halls, cafeteria, dormitory rooms, an administrative unit, a security room, a waiting hall, an infi rmary, masjid, a dining hall, tea house/buff et, a storeroom, a heating room, janitors’ room, water tank, laundry room, toilets and bathrooms.

Th e dormitory rooms of the centers are planned according to the international standards and a room is designed for 4 students to stay.

Th e project will be completed one year after the fund has been raised. Th e project is planned and will be implement-ed by IHH.

Th e construction of each dormitory will be on 4,304 m² plot and will cost €800,000 with the interiors costing €250,000. Th e total cost of the building, except the plot, is €1,050,000.

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Çetin Topçuoğlu Sports Centre ADANA

Çetin TopçuoğluÇetin TopçuoğluÇetin TopçuoğluSports Centre Sports Centre Sports Centre Sports Centre ADANAADANA

Kevin Neish (Activist-Canada)

During the Israeli assault I witnessed the deaths

of some martyrs while others died just meters

away from me. In particular, Çetin Topçuoğlu, was

murdered very close to where I was working as

a photographer on the deck 4 stairway. He was

killed while protecting us, trying to keep the Israeli

commandos from entering our ship. If not for

Çetin’s and the other martyrs sacrifi ce many more

would have died on the Mavi Marmara that day.

I have had the honor of meeting Çetin’s son Aytek

and so I know that Çetin’s memory and good work

will be carried on by his family. As a small token

of my respect for Çetin’s memory, I donated all the

cash, which IHH managed to get returned to me

from the Israeli thieves, to the 9 Martyrs project.

Hopefully I will be able to visit Çetin Topçuoğlu

Sports Centre in Adana some day soon.

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9 Martyrs

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IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation conduct-ing aid projects by your donations, planning

to construct a sports hall in Adana, in the memory of Çetin Topçuoğlu who was a taekwondo instructor. The sports hall project that is designed with the capacity of up to 500 people, includes a main sports hall, team locker rooms, showers, toilets and a lobby. The centre will focus on mat sports; competitions can be performed in front of an audience, also help those who come here to improve their social lives and be beneficial to society.

The project will be completed one year after the fund has been raised. The project is planned and will be imple-mented by IHH.

The construction of the sports hall will be on 3,165 m² plot, at a cost of €800,000 with the interiors costing €250,000. The total cost of the building, except the plot, is €1,000,000.

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9 Martyrs

Furkan DOĞANFurkan Doğan was born in New York on

October 20, 1991, while his father Ahmet Doğan was working as a lecturer there. In 1993 he returned to Turkey with his family and settled in Kayseri. Furkan was in his fi nal year at Kayseri Hisarcıklıoğlu Private High School. He was the youngest of three siblings. On May 9th he took the university entrance exam. He wanted to enter medical school and become an ophthalmologist.

During the attack, 19-year-old Furkan was on the upper deck. He was trying to record the attack with a small video camera. Th e Israeli soldiers dragged Furkan after being wounded by a bullet. According to the witnesses his last words were: “Allah, accept my shahadah! Allah accept my shahadah!”

According to the autopsy report from the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine and the United Nations Human Rights Council Report, Furkan Doğan “was on the central area of the top deck fi lming with a small

video camerawhen he was fi rst hit with live fi re. It appears that he was lying on the deck in a conscious, or semi-conscious, state for some time. In total Furkan received fi ve bullet wounds, to the face, head, back thorax, left leg and foot. All of the entry wounds were on the back of his body, except for the face wound which entered to the right of his nose. According to forensic analysis, tattooing around the wound in his face indicates that the shot was delivered at point blank range. Furthermore, the trajectory of the wound, from bottom to top, together with a vital abrasion to the left shoulder that could be consistent with the bullet exit point, is compatible with the shot being received while he was lying on the ground on his back. Th e other wounds were not the result of fi ring in contact, near contact or close range, but it is not otherwise possible to determine the exact fi ring range. Th e wounds to the leg and foot were most likely received in a standing position.”

Furkan Doğan was born in New York on video camerawhen he was fi rst hit with

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9 Martyrs

İbrahim BİLGENİbrahim Bilgen was born on March 2, 1949 in

Batman, Beşiri. He lost his father when he was 4 years old. Bilgen completed his high school education in Elazığ and graduated from Elazığ Fırat University, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He moved to Siirt in 1980. In addition to his work on engineering, İbrahim Bilgen was involved in politics. In the 80s, he led the Siirt branch of the Turkish political party, Refah Partisi (Welfare Party). He launched the fi rst local TV channel of Siirt, Selam TV. Married to Suna Bilgen, İbrahim Bilgen was the father of six children, Ayşe (1975), Fatma (1977), Yusuf (1978), Emine (1984), İsmail (1988), Zeynep Meryem (1996).

In 2009, İbrahim Bilgen, who had participated in Viva Palestina land convoy to Gaza, applied also joined the Gaza fl otilla, stating that he could help with the organization, due to his professional work experience.

According to the autopsy report from the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine and the United

Nations Human Rights Council Report, the 61-year-old İbrahim Bilgen “was on the top deck and was one of the fi rst passengers to be shot. He received a bullet wound to the chest, the trajectory of which was from above and not at close range. He had a further two bullet wounds to the right side of the back and right buttock, both back to front. Th ese wounds would not have caused instant death, but he would have bled to death within a short time without medical attention. Forensic evidence shows that he was shot in the side of the head with a soft baton round at such close proximity and that an entire bean bag and its wadding penetrated the skull and lodged in the brain. He had a further bruise on the right fl ank consistent with another beanbag wound. Th e wounds are consistent with the deceased initially being shot from soldiers on board the helicopter above and receiving a further wound to the head while lying on the ground, already wounded.”

İbrahim Bilgen was born on March 2, 1949 in Nations Human Rights Council Report, the 61-year-

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9 Martyrs

Fahri YALDIZFahri Yaldız was born in Adıyaman, Besni

in 1967. He lost his father when he was 9 years old. He was the oldest child. He took the responsibility for his family at a very young age and leaving junior high school to work. He worked at various jobs (pastry maker, ice-cream seller). Married to Güler Yaldız, Fahri Yaldız was the father of four children, Muhammed Fatih (1993), Halil İbrahim (1995), Habibullah (1997) and Harun Yahya (2002).

Fahri Yaldız worked with the youth foundation Milli Gençlik Vakfı and Refah Partisi (Welfare Party), a former Turkish political party, provincial organizations. He was a director of the youth foundation Anadolu Gençlik Derneği for eight years. In 2007, he took an active role in the Adıyaman Humanitarian Aid Association, which is a sister foundation of IHH. Being a fi reman in

the Adıyaman government, Fahri Yıldız also ran a pastry shop.

Fahri Yaldız opened a library and children’s park in Başlı village of his home town Besni. Th e mosque he had begun to construct in his village was completed after his death and opened to the public.

His mother describes him as “brave, generous, merciful, and beautiful.”

According to the autopsy report of the Institute of Istanbul Forensic Medicine and the United Nations Human Rights Council Report 42-year old Fahri Yaldız “received fi ve bullet wounds, one to the chest, one to the left leg and three to the right leg. Th e chest wound was caused by a bullet that entered near the left nipple and hit the heart and lungs before exiting from the shoulder. Th is injury would have caused rapid death.”

Fahri YALDIZFahri YALDIZFahri Yaldız was born in Adıyaman, Besni the Adıyaman government, Fahri Yıldız also ran a

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9 Martyrs

Ali Haydar Bengi was born in Diyarbakır, on September 11, 1971. In 1991 he graduated

from Diyarbakır Religious High School. In 1997, he graduated from the al-Azhar University in Egypt, having studied Islamic Sciences and Arabic Language. He earned his living as a tradesman. Ali Haydar Bengi also conducted humanitarian works as the president of AYDER Solidarity Association. Married to Saniye Bengi, Ali Haydar Bengi was father to four children, Mehanur (1995), Nur Sena (2001), Nur Sema (2001) and Muhammed Mustafa (2005).

Bengi’s close friend for 25 years and his companion on the fl otilla Recep İdikut tells what happened on the night of May 30: “I was going to make an interview with a TV channel on the fl otilla and I talked to him about it. He wanted me to emphasize that the descendants of Salahaddin Ayyubi would put their hearts and souls into this eff ort. We said goodbye to each other on that night and he said that maybe we would never meet again.”

In his written application to join the fl otilla, Ali Haydar Bengi stated that he could deal with translations and communication on the ship. 39-year-old Ali Haydar Bengi was on the upper deck of the Mavi Marmara when during the raid. Ali Haydar Bengi was shot in there by the Israeli soldiers. According to the autopsy report of the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine and the United Nations Human Rights Council Report Ali Haydar Bengi received six bullet wounds (one in the chest, one in the abdomen, one in the right arm, one in the right thigh and two in the left hand). One bullet lodged in the chest area. None of the wounds would have been instantly fatal, but damage to the liver caused bleeding which would have been fatal if not stemmed. Th ere are several witness accounts which suggest that Israeli soldiers shot the deceased in the back and chest at close range while he was lying on the deck as a consequence of initial bullet wounds.”

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Ali Haydar BENGİ

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9 Martyrs

Cengiz Akyüz was born in Mardin, Midyat in May 15, 1969. He was a craftsman

of decorative rendering and plastering in İskenderun. He was married to Nimet Akyüz, and father of three children, Furkan (1996), Beyza (1998) ve Erva Kardelen (2001). In Iskenderun he worked actively as a volunteer in many non governmental organizations primarily IHH’s sister association, İskenderun Humanitarian Relief Association.

Cengiz Akyüz’s friend for 23 years, Zekeriya Kanat shared a memory from when they were waiting for the fl otilla to leave Antalya: “We were waiting for the departure of the ship and we were resting. While I was writing on my diary, I said, ‘We are a part of history now’ out

loud and he said, ‘No, we are writing history.’ ”

Cengiz Akyüz who joined the fl otilla by stating that he could be helpful in construction works in Gaza, became one of the victims who was slaughtered at the fi rst minutes of the raid. According to the autopsy report from the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine and the United Nations Human Rights Council Report, 41-year old Cengiz Akyüz was “injured on the bridge deck in close succession by live fi re from above. He had been sheltering and was shot as he attempted to move inside the door leading to the stairwell. Cengiz Akyüz received a shot to the head and it is probable that he died instantly. Th e pathology report shows four wounds: to the neck, face, chest and thigh.”

Cengiz AKYÜZ

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9 Martyrs

Cengiz Songür was born in June, 1963 in Hüseyinler village of Konya’s Beyşehir

province. After fi nishing primary school he began to work. He lived in İzmir and was married to Nurcan Songür, and was the father of six children, Ayşegül (1983), Hacer (1986), Sümeyye (1987), İsmail (1990), Zeynep (1992), Senanur (1994) and Meryem (1996).

Cengiz Songür stated that he would be able to help with technical and mechanical tasks for the fl otilla. When asked why he wanted to join the fl otilla he responded: “Due to the responsibility of my faith and being a witness to the era…”

In the letter that was put in his pocket by one of his daughters and found by Cengiz Songür’s himself later on when he was on the ship, it is

written that: “I am scared father. I am scared when I see the sadness in my siblings’ eyes and the worry in my mother’s face. But even if I lose you, you must go father… For the smile of an orphan, for the prayer of a mother… Even if your name would return alone, go...”

According to the autopsy report from the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine Reports and the United Nations Human Rights Council Report, 47-year-old Cengiz Songür “received a single bullet to the upper central thorax below the neck, shot from a high angle, which lodged in the right thoracic cavity injuring the heart and aorta. Unsuccessful eff orts were made by doctors inside the ship to resuscitate him through heart massage.”

Cengiz SONGÜRCengiz Songür was born in June, 1963 in written that: “I am scared father. I am scared

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Çetin Topçuoğlu was born in Adana in 1956. He retired from Çukobirlik as a civil servant in

1998. He played amateur football in Adana Demir Spor for two years. He was interested in various sports, such as taekwondo, boxing, wrestling, swimming, athletics and judo. He attained high degrees in international taekwondo championships. He was working voluntarily in one of IHH’s sister foundations, the Adana Humanitarian Aid Foundation and was involved in orphan organizations; he led education, culture and youth commissions. Married to Çiğdem Topçuoğlu, Çetin Topçuoğlu had a son Aytek (1984).

He attended Viva Palestina land convoy in 2009 before joining the fl otilla organization. When applying to join the fl otilla, he stated that he could contribute as an instructor and fi rst aid expert.

According to the autopsy report from the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine and the United Nations Human Rights Council Report, 54-year- old Çetin Topçuoğlu “had been involved in helping to bring injured passengers inside the ship to be treated. He was also shot close to the door on the bridge deck. He did not die instantly and his wife, who was also on board the ship, was with him when he died. He was shot by three bullets. One bullet entered from the top the soft tissues of the right side of the back of the head, exited from the neck and then reentered into the thorax. Another bullet entered the left buttock and lodged in the right pelvis. Th e third entered the right groin and exited from the lower back. Th ere are indications that the victim may have been in a crouching or bending position when this wound was sustained.” According to the statement of the witnesses his last words were “My son…”

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Çetin TOPÇUOĞLUÇetin Topçuoğlu was born in Adana in 1956. He According to the autopsy report from the Istanbul

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9 Martyrs

Born in 1972 in Kayseri, Cevdet Kılıçlar graduated from the Faculty of

Communications at Marmara University. He worked for several Turkish newspapers including Milli Gazete, Selam and Vakit. In 2008 he began to work as IHH’s internet editor. He had two children, Erdem (1997) and Gülhan (1995), with his wife Derya.

He boarded the Mavi Marmara in Istanbul on May 22. He was responsible of news edition, IHH’s web site content, the continuous internet connection for all the passengers and the press members on the ship, and inside photography. At the time of the attack, internet access was cut off . As there was nothing he could do to restore internet access,

he went to the deck to photograph what was happening.

According to the autopsy report from the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute and the United Nations Human Rights Council report “at the moment he was shot 38-year-old Cevdet Kılıçlar was standing on the bridge deck on the port side of the ship near to the door leading to the main stairwell and was attempting to photograph Israeli soldiers on the top deck. According to the pathology reports, he received a single bullet to his forehead between the eyes. Th e bullet followed a horizontal trajectory which crossed the middle of the brain from front to back. He would have died instantly.”

Cevdet KILIÇLARBorn in 1972 in Kayseri, Cevdet Kılıçlar he went to the deck to photograph what was

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Necdet Yıldırım, whose family is from Malatya, was born on August 15, 1978, in

Istanbul where he completed his schooling. In 2005 he began to work at IHH in the pharmacy department of the Domestic Aid Unit. He had one daughter, Meleknur (2008), with his wife Refi ka.

He was with the team that worked for transportation, replacement and inspection of all the gifts for the orphans and their families sent by sponsor families and all the necessity materials for the ship and passengers during the voyage. At the time of the attack he was on duty

in the press room. According to the testimony of witnesses, after seeing that his colleague Cevdet Kılıçlar had been shot and was being put on a stretcher, Yıldırım ran to the upper deck to help the wounded. According to the autopsy report from the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute and the United Nations Human Rights Council report “the location and circumstances of the shooting and death of Necdet Yıldırım remain unclear. He was shot twice in the thorax, once from the front and once from the back. Th e trajectory of both bullets was from top to bottom. He also received bruises consistent with plastic bullet impact.”

Necdet YILDIRIM

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activitiesactivities activitiesactivities

activitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivities


activitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivities

activitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivitiesactivities

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activities activitiesSocial AidactivitiesactivitiesSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial Aid

Sosyal yardımlar

On January 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, with the epicenter

of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, struck Haiti. According to offi cial fi gures, it is estimated that 316,000 people died, 300,000 were injured, and more than 1 million were left homeless. One year has passed since the earthquake occurred. IHH continues to relief works in Haiti that is started to conduct right after the earthquake.

Th ousands of children have been left orphaned in Haiti over the past year. 53 Haitian orphans were included in IHH’s Sponsor Family System. In addition to the aid provided by IHH’s Sponsor Family System, support activities for the other orphans in Haiti are still ongoing. A team of four, two of whom were paramedics

visited Haiti on the anniversary of the earthquake; besides working to establish an orphanage, they also distributed food, clothing and medicine, and health screenings were carried out in a number of diff erent cities, particularly in the capital of Port-au-Prince, against the recent cholera epidemics.

Th e food aid distributed primarily to orphanages and schools, 4 orphanages and 3 schools are provided the annual food aid. Th e clothing aid is distributed in the La Main Orphanage in the city Port-au-Prince. 7 trucks of aid supplies are distributed in the tent cities in various regions. Th e volunteer paramedics of the IHH team, Ahmet Altunel MD and Nurse Reyhan Altunel provided health screening to 540 people in Lamartinier,

IHH in Haiti on the earthquake anniversary

Delmas, Miragone, Delmand and Clersine. IHH prepared the posters introducing to the people the protection ways against the cholera epidemics that caused the death of 4000 people around the country. Th e posters were published and posted on the public places primarily schools, orphanages and hospitals.

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activities activitiesSocial Aid

activitiesactivitiesSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial Aid

Holy Quran translated into

Hungarian language

IHH teams delivered winter aid including winter clothing, blankets, fi rewood and heating stove to Jammu Kashmir

where 400 people lost their lives due to the freezing weather. Food aid packages consisting of rice, sugar, fl our, oil and salt were distributed to 500 families. 1,000 families were provided with blankets and fi rewood, and 50 families were given heating stoves. IHH’s health team conducted health screenings for 1,500 people in the region.

Winter aid to Jammu Kashmir

The Hanif Islamic and Cultural Association, IHH’s partner organization in Hungary, completed a two-year

translation project of the Holy Qur’an into Hungarian. Th e founders of the Hanif Islamic and Cultural Association, Ahmet Barışçıl and Halime Zsuzanna held a publicity program in January. Th e event was attended by Osman Şahin, the Imam of the Fatih Mosque; Dr. Kasim Asker Hasan, the Iraqi ambassador to Hungary; Marton Gyöngyösi, a parliamentarian from the Hungarian Jobbik Party; Seyfi Bozkuş, the counselor for religious services of Turkey’s Austria Embassy; Yusuf Armağan, an IHH volunteer, and more than 200 other guests. With IHH’s support to the project, 2000 copies of the Hungarian translation of the Holy Qur’an have been printed to be distributed for free.

Food aid to Iraqi refugees

Many of elderly people and children have lost their lives due to harsh winter circumstances in Bangladesh

which began in December. IHH started to relief works for the homeless, the needy and the refugees who were aff ected badly by the temperatures that were below the normal. In February, IHH team visited seven orphanages, Tamirul Millat, Munshibagh Darul Quarar Islamia Alim, Daru’l Uloom Khilgaon, Daru’l Aman, the Mohammad Girls Orphanage and the Zakat Foundation Orphanage, in the capital city of Dakka and donated winter clothing and blankets to 350 orphans. In the Tongi Upozila Dist Gazipur district of Dakka blankets were also distributed to 542 families. Th e aid team visited the Arakan refugee camps and the Daru’l Imam Orphange, the Imam Bukhari Orphanage, the Al-Markazul Islami Daru’l Ulum Orphange, the Madrasatu’l Uloomeddineah Orphanage, and the Jaminia Sultan Uloom Orphanage and distributed blankets, winter clothing, shoes and stationery. In addition, 100 families in the region were given blankets.

Supporting refugee camps in Bangladesh

There are many refugees in Turkey who have been forced to fl ee from Iraq because of the U.S invasion in 2003. Since they have not been

granted the refugee status offi cially and have only been granted temporary asylum, the refugees are deprived of even the most basic rights, such as the right to work, education, and health care. Th e refugees, who reside largely in Çorum, Sivas and Tokat, are able to continue their lives mainly by the help of the relief organizations and charitable people in Turkey. Iraqi refugees, who are one of the primary groups in IHH’s refugee relief works, are provided periodical aid of food, health care, housing and education. 180 from Çorum, 70 from Tokat and 50 from Sivas; totally 300 families in three diff erent cities of Turkey were distributed food aid packages in January.

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Social AidSocial AidactivitiesactivitiesSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial Aid

Sosyal Yardımlar

IHH continues to provide periodic aid for refugees. IHH provides

aid primarily to the Palestinian refugees who have scattered into the various Middle Eastern countries due to the Israeli occupation. Approximately 500.000 Palestinians live in 10 refugee camps in Syria and approximately 430.000 Palestinians live in 12 refugee camps in Lebanon; all live with the hope that they will return to their homes one day. As a part of the IHH’s regular aid works for Palestinian refugees, 146.000 items of textiles and clothing, worth 1.3 million Turkish Liras, were sent to 12 refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon in January.

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Support to the Palestinian refugees in Syria and Lebanon

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activitiesSocial Aid

IHH started to emergency aid work in Pakistan

following the heaviest fl ood disaster in history hit

the country in last July, and sent 441.823 kilos of aid supplies

to the country by cargo plane and freight train. Th e Defne Y

cargo ship sent to Pakistan at the end of December, loaded with

the aid supplies provided by the eff orts of the volunteers from

each 81 cities of Turkey. After a 25-day journey, the Defne Y

cargo ship carrying 4,800 tons of humanitarian aid worth 8

million Turkish Liras, reached to Karachi Port. Various types

of aid including construction materials, medicine and medical

supplies, food, tents, blankets, prefabricated houses, hygiene

kits and clothing were distributed in 5 fl ood-hit regions of the

country village by village, primarily to the hospitals, schools,

orphanages and to the survivors sheltering in madrasas.

Sosyal Yardımlar31

activitiesactivitiesactivities

The Defne Y cargo ship arrived in Pakistan

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Toy campaign for orphansIHH, which has implemented various aid projects for orphans to provide education, health care, housing and more, has started a new campaign. We provided toys and play grounds to orphan children in Iraq as a part of the IHH’s Orphan Days between 16th and 31st

March. By your support the children were full of smiles.

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activities activitiesSocial Aid

activitiesactivitiesSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial AidSocial Aid

Greetings from the Aceh orphanage to Gazan sisters and brothersGaza Sisterhood Days held by the IHH’s orphanage Istanbul Dormitory in Aceh. During a week poetry, writing and knowledge contents, and plays on Gaza were organized.

IHH has been supporting the orphan children in the geographies hit by war,

natural disasters and poverty for a better future, by

providing periodical and regular aid since 1992. Th e

basic goal of IHH’s orphan projects is to support

orphans who are unable to maintain themselves

until they can, to support them in their education

and preparing them for life by a family care and compassion.

Orphan activities

We share the holiday joy together100 Turkish orphans who are supported by the IHH’s Sponsor Family System came together for our breakfast program, held at IHH headquarter in February. We shared the holiday joy with our orphans who were received their mid-term grades.

Sponsor Family SystemIHH’s Sponsor Family System, by which the orphans are supported in 27 countries in the world and 22 cities of Turkey, has been expanding by your support. By the year 2011, 30 orphans from Bitlis and Tatvan cities of Turkey and 60 orphans from Tanzania were supported by the system. With the addition of these the number of orphans that are supported by IHH’s Sponsor Family System increased to 1,147 in Turkey and 16,308 in total.

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activitiesEmergency aid

A country struck by an earthquake and tsunami: We were in Japan

activitiesactivitiesEmergency aidEmergency aidEmergency aidEmergency aidEmergency aidEmergency aidEmergency aidEmergency aidEmergency aidEmergency aid

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activities activities

IHH sent emergency aid team to Japan where hit by one of the worst disasters in its history. Our

fi ve-member team, reached the capital city of Tokyo two days after the earthquake on March 14, then went on to Sendai where the most hit by the earthquake and tsunami. Our team immediately visited the crisis management center in the region, to be informed about the damage and the basic needs after the disaster. IHH not only delivered three trucks

of stable food to the crisis management centre to be distributed to the survivors, it also distributed food aid packages that would meet the daily needs for 800 people. We are still in touch with the NGOs in Tokyo negotiating about the better relief works in the areas of disaster.

In the disaster zone where the electricity is supplied periodically during the day, the people are struggling to provide even the daily basic needs. 6 million people are deprived of the clean drinking water. Th ere are long queues before the supermarkets and the gas stations. Search and rescue works, evacuation and emergency aid works are not being able to conduct eff ectively due to the electricity cut-off s and oil shortage besides the radioactive leak.

It is reported that 23 Turkish citizens are in good health and evacuated safely via the Turkish embassy from Sendai where the worst hit city is by the tsunami that happened after the earthquake.

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whom brought to Benghazi from the city of Brega. A tent city for the 200 families has been set at the border, 1000 African construction workers using a construction yard as a shelter are provided the food aid, 50 orphans received the clothing aid and 100 families received monetary aid. Besides, by the IHH team and Turkish embassy 600 Turkish citizens and international citizens from Egypt, Nepal, Malaysia, Vietnam and Bangladesh, who were waiting at the border to pass, are evacuated safely and the offi cial paperwork of whom are completed. Th e Turkish citizens are provided telecommunication with their families in Turkey and the citizens are led to the Turkish embassy. IHH set a logistic center in order to store the medicine, medical materials and basic needs to deliver emergency aid to the people of Libya in case of the borders to the regions where hold by pro-Gaddafi forces are opened. Th e aid that costs €200,000 donated by the people of Tunis is distributed to the Libyan by IHH. IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation delivered TL 233,310.00 aid in cash and TL 788.645.00 aid in kind that totally costs TL 1.021.955.00 to Libya by March.

IHH teams in LibyaTh e people of Libya have been on the streets since February 17 following the people’s revolutions in Tunis and Egypt. Gaddafi ’s regime which has been ruling for 42 years, is trying to crack down the protests in the most inhumane way which were started in Benghazi and expanding into other cities as Tripoli, Derna and Misrata. Th e fi gures of dead and wounded are estimated as thousands by the offi cials. Many international citizens, who fl ee from the coastal cities into Tunis or Libya, are also struggling. IHH started to relief works right after the erupted events. Th e teams are conducting relief works at Tunisian-Libyan border, Libyan-Egyptian border and inside Libya in the cities of Benghazi, Tobruk, Derna and al-Bayda. Medical materials and antihemorrhagic medicine that helps to

stop bleeding are sent to Benghazi in which many increasing injured is reported and food aid packages are delivered to the people who are stuck at the borders. IHH conducting relief works at the Ras Jadir border gate which is located 60-70 km away from the city az-Zawiyah on the west side of Libya where the violent clashes has been hold. IHH providing a mobile kitchen and distributing the aid of dry food, hot meal, drinking water, blankets, milk and infant formula to 10,000 people at a daily base in coordination with the humanitarian organizations as Tunisian Red Crescent, Tunis Taamun Charity Community and Turkish embassy to Tunis. Th e delivery of daily hot meal by a mobile kitchen is planned to be continued till the end of the intensity at the Libyan-Tunisian border. 3 Turkish medical doctors with the IHH team helping the treatment of the injured

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T unis is passing a new era after the dictatorship Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was overthrown

by the riots and street demonstrations called as the Jasmine Revolution. Tunis is trying to recover after 23 years reign of Ben Ali’s iron fi st. IHH team of four people went to Tunis following the erupted events to conduct emergency aid works and to meet with the NGO representatives, opinion leaders and political leaders. Th e IHH team, whose primarily aim to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Tunis and to bring the support of the people of Turkey to the people of Tunis whose demand of rights is defi nitely legitimate, visited

172 families, 35 of which are the families of the martyrs including the family of Mohamed Bouazizi who fl amed the people’s revolution in Tunis. Th e team conducted relief works in the cities Sidi Bouzid, Tunis, Kasserine, Th ala, Regueb and Gafsa by providing monetary aid to the needy families. IHH is became one of the organizations which visited the country to provide humanitarian aid where was not allowed the any kind of organized activities including social, economical or political and the works of any international organizations. IHH will continue to conduct social relief works for the people of Tunis.

IHH team in Tunis

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Many houses were left under the waters and earth due to the fl ood and sliding by the heavy rains on highlands located the north of the Brazilian capital Rio de Janeiro at January 11. Th e land sliding, that occurred following the fl ood disaster by

30 people lost their lives and 100.000 people became homeless in Venezuela where hit by the fl ood after the days of heavy rain

at the beginning of December, 2010. IHH distributed food aid in Altos del Gallego and Altagracia as a part of the conducting emergency aid following the disaster. In coordination with Venezuelan Islamic Society, under the lead of the IHH executive board members Osman Atalay and Faruk Ünsal, 2500 families were distributed the food aid packages as a part of the relief works.

Flood relief in Venezuela

Emergency aid in Brazil which 903 people dead and hundreds are still lost, recorded as one the worst disasters experienced by the country in recent years. IHH teams brought the emergency aid to the region where nearly 3000 houses were demolished and 1,2

billion dollar damaged were occurred. Th e teams distributed food and hygiene kits that worth 10,000 dollar to the survivors who were settled in the public buildings and sport halls.

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A 7,2 magnitude devastating earthquake hit Dalbandin city of Pakistan’s Balochistan state which is located at the border

to Iran and Afghanistan on January 18th. No loss of life reported from the region due to the less population but many houses became unusable since the earthquake. Th e IHH teams which reached to the region following the earthquake started emergency aid works immediately. At the fi rst phase, food aid packages including sugar, rice, tea, oil, fl our and macaroni, and winter clothing, shoes and blankets are distributed to 100 families in coordination with the IHH’s local partner Khubaib Foundation.

IHH teams in earthquake hit Pakistan

IHH in Sri Lanka which hit by heavy rains

The heavy rains that occurred at the beginning of January caused flood and land sliding in the South

Asian country Sri Lanka. According to the official figures at least 325.000 people lost their homes after the disaster. Hundreds of houses and offices were left under waters in the eastern and middle parts of the country especially the cultivated areas were severely damaged, the rice fields which provides the most important basic food to the people were totally destroyed. Thousands of people are settled the camps set on the high areas. According to the UN, over one million people are affected by the disaster, and food and clean drinking water are among the urgent needs.IHH teams are started to conduct emergency aid works in the disaster hit Batticaloa, Amparai, Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa, Anuradapura, Kandy and Matale regions, by providing hot meal to 8650 people in 17 different refugee camps at the first phase, and distributed food to 100 families. The 14 medical teams of IHH, examined the flood survivors at the refugee camps against the epidemics.

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activities activitiesDomestic Aid Domestic AidactivitiesactivitiesDomestic AidDomestic AidDomestic AidDomestic AidDomestic AidDomestic Aid

In May 4, 2009, 44 people, 7 of whom are children, lost their lives as a result of an attack to a house in which an

engagement ceremony was held in Bilge Village of Mazıdağı, Mardin. While the bitterness of the event is still fresh even after nearly two years, the 51 children under 18 who left orphaned by this incident, are provided support and protection via IHH’s Sponsor Family System. Th e Bilge Village orphans will be also provided IHH’s periodical aids of housing, food, clothing and education. You may support an orphan by

paying €35 or $50 montly for a year

or donating to the orphan fund.

Fill out the form to be part of

Sponsor Family System:

http://www.ihh.org.tr/yetimtalep/en

Orphans of Mardin’s Bilge Villageare now supported by SponsorFamily System

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activities activitiesDomestic Aid Domestic Aidactivitiesactivities

Domestic AidDomestic AidDomestic AidDomestic AidDomestic AidDomestic Aid

Support to ZeytinburnuChildren with AutismEducational Center

Autism known as a developmental disorder, aff ecting the social interaction and communication skills of the child,

that begins at the age of 3 and lasts a life time. In Turkey there are only 38 educational centre for the children with autism that opened by governorship and only 8 of them are in Istanbul. IHH supports educational centers for the children with autism in Zeytinburnu and Kağıthane districts of Istanbul. IHH which previously supported Kağıthane Center for Children with Autism by providing educational materials and furnishing, set a new classroom for the Zeytinburnu Educational Center for the Children with Autism. Special mattresses are covered on the walls of the new classroom for protection and special educational kits are also donated to the center which serves to 85 autistic students with diff erent age and intelligence level.

IHH continues to support a part of the Chechenian refugees who had to fl ee from their country during

Chechenian-Russian War and whom are settled in the camps located in Fenerbahçe, Beykoz and Ümraniye districts of Istanbul. Food aid packages are delivered to 30 families in Ümraniye, 20 families in Beykoz and 52 families who stay at the camp in Fenerbahçe.

Food aid to Chechenian camps

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activities activitiesactivitiesactivities

IHH organized a painting contest among the Gazan students of

elementary, secondary and high schools between the dates

15th and 30th November. 500 Palestinian children from diff erent age

groups participated to the painting contest, titled “Th is is my world”. Th e

children, who live in Gaza under hard conditions, expressed the world

that they dream to live in by painting. Prominent Turkish cartoonists

Hasan Aycın, Mevlana İdris, Dağıstan Çetinkaya, Rabia Bozkurt, Ciğdem

Tavkul and Turan Dertli were the jury of the contest.

Th e results of the painting contest declared on December 16th,

8-year-old Duha Veil among elementary school students, 14-year-old

Muhammed Bashir among secondary school students and 15-year-

old Lina Atef Mesad among high school students were announced as

winners. All the students who came out in the contest were given

various gifts at the award ceremony that was held in Gaza.

170 paintings that were chosen among all the paintings which applied

to the contest, were exhibited in Istanbul, inside the Mavi Marmara boat

and at Taksim Square, and in Kayseri city of Turkey, as a part of the

activities that were organized for the Gaza War anniversary in January.

Painting contest

organized in Gaza

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219 days after Israel’s bloody attack which killed nine volunteers

of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, the Mavi Marmara ship returned home. After completing the offi cial procedures at the port of Kepez in Çanakkale, the Mavi Marmara arrived in Istanbul on December 26 welcomed by an enormous crowd at a ceremony organized by IHH. Accompanied by a tugboat from the Directorate General of Coastal Safety and Sea Rescue, approximately 100,000 people attended the ceremony to welcome the Mavi Marmara at the Sarayburnu port where the ship was docked. Fireworks were set off from the Galata Bridge when the ship was near the entrance to the Bosphorus Strait. As the ship approached the port, red, black, white and green balloons representing the Palestinian fl ag were released. Buses left many cities in Anatolia for the ceremony. In addition to Turkish citizens at the ceremony, the families and friends of those martyred on the Mavi Marmara, passengers from the fl otilla, politicians, representatives from non-governmental organizations, authors, artists, and hundreds of activists from 50 diff erent countries also attended.

Th e speakers at the ceremony included IHH President Bülent Yıldırım, Ahmet Doğan, father of the martyred Furkan Doğan, who spoke on behalf of the families of the martyred, Palestinian Archbishop Hilarion Capucci, Dror Elimelech Feiler from Ship to Gaza Sweden, Audrey Bomse from the Free Gaza Movement, Muhammad Sawalha from the International Committee to Lift the Siege on Gaza, Mazen Kahel from the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza and Dimitris Pleionis from Ship to Gaza Greece. On one of the most crowded days in history in Sarayburnu, Alper Sunaçoğlu, a member of the national swim team and world record holder, swam as part of a team to meet the Mavi Marmara. While docked at the port, the ship was visited by the families of the martyrs and the people who attended the ceremony. Mavi Marmara was open to visitors for two weeks; after that taken to the Tuzla shipyard. Th ere have been invitations from other countries to ship, which is still undergoing repairs and maintenance.

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Historical encounter for the Mavi Marmara

An award ceremony was held by “Inter Community Dialogue

Society” for the Mavi Marmara and the humanitarian aid flotilla at the beginning of January in Beirut. Hundreds of people from different religious and political groups attended the ceremony, where plaques were given to IHH’s president Bülent Yıldırım, Ahmet Doğan, father of the martyr Furkan Doğan, İsmail Bilgen, son of the martyr İbrahim Bilgen and among the passengers Turkish journalists Hakan Albayrak, Adem Özköse and IHH’s executive board members Ömer Faruk Korkmaz and Kemal Özdal.

The Freedom Flotilla received an award in Lebanon

TESİŞ Workers’ Union in Turkey raises money for Pakistan After the disastrous floods which

hit Pakistan last year, the Energy, Water and Gas Workers’ Union (TESiŞ) of Turkey organized a humanitarian aid campaign which raised 63,000 Turkish Liras. The collected money was handed over by the president of the Istanbul branch No. 3, Hüseyin Özil, and the board members to IHH to be delivered to Pakistan.

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A monument was built in Spanish capital Madrid, in the memory of

9 activists from Turkey who became martyred at the Mavi Marmara by the Israeli raid on May 31. Th e monument located at the Palestine Park in Leganes province of Madrid

IHH received “Human Rights Award”

by a ceremony which was attended by Turkish ambassador to Madrid Ender Arat, Palestinian ambassador to Madrid, Musa Odeh, the Mayor of Leganes Rafael Gomez Montoya, IHH executive board member Ahmet Emin Dağ and representatives of

various NGOs. Th e monument, which was eructed by the initiatives of two Spanish activists who were on board on Mavi Marmara, and by the support of NGOs, made by sculptures Roxanne Robinson and Arevalo Beteta.

The International Cultural Youth Council (Conseil de la

Jeunesse Pluriculturelle/COJEP) in Strasbourg, France, held its second COJEP Awards ceremony this year and awarded IHH with the Human Rights Award for its role in the Gaza humanitarian aid flotilla. Each year on World Human Rights Day, COJEP recognizes an influential person or organization.

At an award ceremony held on December 10, in Geneva, COJEP President Ali Gedikoğlu presented Hüseyin Oruç, IHH’s executive board member, the Human Rights Award. The following awards were also presented: Intercultural Dialogue: Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - ISESCO Director General (Morocco). Struggle

Racism and Discriminations: Lilian Thuram (France). Living Together: Malika Benarab-Attou, Member of the European Parliament (France). Citizenship: Jean Louis Gagnaire, Parliamentarian from Loire (France). Civil Society: Cyril Ritchie, Conference of UN NGOs (CONGO), first Vice President (Ireland).

A monument was built in the memory of Mavi Marmara in Spain

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Th e family of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer while attempting to prevent the destruction of the house belonging a Palestinian family, visited IHH. At the IHH headquarter, an acquaintance meeting held by IHH, with Cindy and Craig Corrie, who were happened to be in Turkey for the premiere of the play in the name of Rachel Corrie who is accepted as an anti-war symbol globally. Th e people who were part of the fl otilla and the relatives of the martyrs also participated in the meeting with the Corrie family. In addition to this, Cindy and Craig Corrie visited the Mavi Marmara, which is taken into reparation at the Tuzla shipyard, by the companion of IHH President Bülent Yıldırım and Mavi Marmara Captain Mahmut Tural.

American peace activist Rachel Corrie’s family visited IHH

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(ÜST BANT) HAYAT BULMAYI BEKLEYEN PROJELER (S. 51-53)

An orphanage complex was built in the Banda Aceh region of Indonesia by IHH in 2006 for the children who lost their families in the tsunami of December 26, 2004. Th e Istanbul

Dormitory, which consists of nine buildings built over a 5,000 square meter area, meets an important need in a region which suff ered great destruction. As part of this $18,000 project, the education expenses of 30 university students at the Istanbul Dormitory are being met. Th e orphans who are part of this project and their fi elds of study are listed below:

* Fıtri Jasmin – Faculty of Education * Rahmania – Department of Economics * Cut Putriana – Department of Psychology * Elviana- Faculty of Education * Lidia Agustina - Faculty of Education * Marleni – Department of Electronic Engineering * Nurhilma – Department of Civil Engineering * Junidar Arabia – Department of Business Administration * Yusnidar – Faculty of Technical Education

* Nurmadini - Faculty of Education * Fitriani – Faculty of Fine Arts * Siti Hafsa – Faculty of Th eology * Muliani – Department of Islamic Banking * Fatimah – Department of Primary Education * Miftahul Cennet - Department of Primary Education * Maryam – Department of English Language and Literature * Melisa - Department of Primary Education * Arini – Faculty of Communications

Educational Bursary Project ACEH

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activities activitiesfuture projects

in brief51

future projects future projects

in briefin briefin brieffuture projects

in brieffuture projects future projects


in brieffuture projects

in briefin briefin brief

Invaded in 2003 by the U.S. and the coalition forces and dragged

into a major humanitarian crisis, the Iraqi people’s education, health, commerce, industry, etc. needs are not being satisfi ed. Since 2003, IHH has implemented various projects to improve the social conditions for the fi ve million orphan children and

In Syria, a country with a 20 million population, there are around 500,000 Palestinian refugees. It is estimated that

in the 10 refugee camps in the country there are 10,000 people who have walking disability, and it is known that only up to 2,000 of these have wheelchairs. It is hoped that with this project, wheelchairs will be procured for the refugees, people who are unable to benefi t from state services and lack even the most basic rights of citizenship. In the fi rst phase 500 Palestinian refugees will benefi t from this project. Th e cost of a wheelchair is $100, with the total project costing $50,000.

Micro-credit Project IRAQ

Wheelchair project SYRIA

one million widow women of the country. As part of the micro-credit project, 30 widows in Baghdad will receive training from experts in fi elds such as catering, hair styling, sewing, embroidery, and kindergarten teaching. Following this training, they will be given $1,500 loans in order to put their new skills into practice.

Repayment of the loans will begin at the end of the third month and will be completed in 18 months. Project follow-up will be carried out by the experts. Th e total cost of the micro-credit project is $161,000, including the training, the planning of the projects which receive loans, the follow-up and administrative expenses .

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faaliyetler faaliyetlerYurt İçi Yardımlar

Yurt İçi Yardımlar

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future projects

in brief future projects

in brief52







The Israeli government continues to spent eff ort to turn Jerusalem into a Jewish city in Palestine, which has been under

occupation since 1948; every means has been employed to change the demographic structure of the city. In particular, excavations are being conducted underneath Masjid al-Aqsa in order to rebuild the Temple of Solomon, which is considered to be sacred by Jews, and as a result centuries-old Muslim neighborhoods in the vicinity of the mosque are being destroyed. Th e Israeli government is seizing or issuing demolition orders for homes in neighborhoods that are unable to be renovated due to fi nancial restrictions. Th e goal of this project is to renovate fi ve Palestinian homes in the Saiyda, Jabsha, Mujahideen and Liglag neighborhoods near the Masjid al-Aqsa. Th e total cost of the project is $243,000.

11 million Muslims live in Moro, located in the southern Philippines

in South Asia. Th e Muslim population in Moro, which is still struggling for independence, is subjected to the Philippines government’s systematic policies of impoverishment. With restricted rights and freedoms, the impoverished Muslims of Moro are in desperate need of political and economic support. IHH is continuing to social aid

School and orphanage construction project MORO

Renovation project of homes in the Masjid al-Aqsa vicinity PALESTINE

works in Moro, where one of the most important areas of activity. As part of this project it is planned that the construction of the half-fi nished Dar’ul Ulum School in the capital of Moro, the Barangay Tomontaka region of Cotabato, will be completed and an orphanage will be built alongside the school. Th e project will be completed within six months after funding has been raised. Th e total project will cost 30,000 Euros.

52 53

faaliyetler faaliyetlerYurt İçi Yardımlar

Yurt İçi Yardımlar

52

future projects

in brief future projects

in brief53







54 55

activities activitiesVolunteer ActivitiesactivitiesactivitiesVolunteer ActivitiesVolunteer ActivitiesVolunteer ActivitiesVolunteer ActivitiesVolunteer Activities

54 55

activities activitiesVolunteer Activities activitiesactivities

Volunteer Activities

Publicity works continue Th e president of the Mavi Marmara Association, İsmail Yılmaz, and the wives of the martyrs participated in a Mavi Marmara-themed program organized by the AK Party Sultangazi Disabled People Commission. During the program donations for Palestine were collected. Another program concerned with the Mavi Marmara was organized by ÖĞDER in Şanlıurfa. In Rize a conference was held for IHH volunteers, about Mavi Marmara and IHH volunteer eff orts. As part of the IHH publicity works, volunteers in Düzce organized a conference, and a meeting concerned with IHH projects was held for volunteers in Şanlıurfa at the İlk Öncüler Derneği and the Hikmet Foundation. In Çorum, IHH volunteers organized a Mavi Marmara themed photograph exhibition. Th e Gaziantep Humanitarian Aid Association held a seminar to publicize IHH’s “9 Monuments for 9 Martyrs” project.

IHH volunteers in Kırşehir and Sivas prepared regional handcrafts and food products to be sold at charity sales for the sister organization of IHH, Sefi re-i Alem, which serves international students studying in Turkey. IHH volunteers in Antalya and Burdur organized seminars on Egypt.

IHH volunteers also contributed to publicity works of the foundation in the social media. In the last three months, our volunteers have undertaken the task of publicizing IHH on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc., as well as providing great support in providing English translations and translating photographs, video, news pieces, articles, etc., from various languages into Turkish.

Volunteer activities

As an institution founded upon the principle of volunteerism, the lion’s share of IHH’s activities is carried out by volunteers who donate their time, labor and patience, both day and night. While the IHH volunteers work to bring about permanent projects that are developed to solve the problems of the poor and needy in the 125 countries and regions where IHH is actively conducting relief works, they also continue to spread IHH’s humanitarian aid mission with the organization of conferences, photograph exhibitions, seminars and similar events. In the last three months, through their eff orts our volunteers in Turkey have carried out various activities, including projects for water well constructions, cataract surgeries, and supporting orphans.

56 57

activities activitiesVolunteer ActivitiesactivitiesactivitiesVolunteer ActivitiesVolunteer ActivitiesVolunteer ActivitiesVolunteer ActivitiesVolunteer Activities

A helping hand to PakistanIHH volunteers from Bursa held a number of activities to help to the construction of houses in Pakistan, collecting donations to build 80 residences for the fl ood victims. Students at the Private Neva Elementary School in Sakarya and IHH volunteers in Üsküdar provided support for the house construction project in Pakistan. Volunteers from Elazığ organized a charity breakfast to provide funds to complete the Pakistan house project. Kindergarten students of Parlayan Yıldız Anaokulu organized a conference to help Pakistan. By the organized programs, Konya’s AYDER sponsored the construction of 25 homes; the İnegöl Humanitarian Aid Association sponsored 20 homes, the Ankara Humanitarian Aid Association sponsored 2 homes and the Kahramanmaraş Humanitarian Aid Association also sponsored 2 homes. In addition, a photograph exhibition for the public organized by the Giresun Federation entitled “Healing the Wounds in Pakistan”. Th e exhibition was hosted by the Üsküdar Municipality.

We became volunteers for orphansOur IHH volunteers in Afyon sent regional products to be sold to raise funds for orphans at the Istanbul Başakşehir Orphan Support Center. Our volunteers in Beylikdüzü organized a charity breakfast to

support the construction of orphanages in Afghanistan. Th e İsar Charity Group started to take care of fi ve more orphans via the Sponsor Family System. A charity breakfast to support the Shura Group Afghanistan orphanage was held by IHH volunteers in Güngören. Istanbul Salih Zeki Elementary School students paid a visit to our foundation, donating their savings to the orphans. Women volunteers in Istanbul organized two large charity event ticket sales to support the Sponsor Family System. Th e funds raised at the programs in Topkapı and Pendik were enough to meet the needs for 150 orphans for a year. Erzurum’s AZAMDER held in fundraising activities to benefi t an educational and orphanage project to aid orphans in Kyrgyzstan. Kardelen Kindergarten students visited our foundation and received information on projects related to orphans. In Konya, IHH volunteers teamed up with AYDER to organize a charity breakfast to help orphans, and used the raised fund to buy winter clothing for the orphans. Psychologists who work as volunteers continued their eff orts to help the rehabilitation of orphan families.

Volunteers continue to build water wells and carry out cataract projects Our volunteers in Balıkesir’s Gönen organized a fund-raising charity breakfast to dig two water wells in Africa. IHH volunteers from Beylikdüzü and the İsar Aid Group provided support for the cataract project. IHH Samsun volunteers and volunteers from Terme Eğitim-Bir-Sen organized a seminar about IHH’s work in Africa. During the program, donations were collected for

56 57

activities activitiesVolunteer Activities activitiesactivities

Volunteer Activities

a well-construction project. Samsun volunteers gave enough donations to IHH donations to build 3 wells, while Terme Eğitim-Bir-Sen volunteers providing donations to open 5 wells. Th e Zonguldak Educational Aid and Support Association for Lasting Enlightenment (SAYDER) organized various events to fund the digging of 5 water wells. A conference was held at Istanbul’s ERDEMDER on Sudan and IHH’s eff orts in Africa. Program attendees donated money to IHH to support cataract operations. In addition, in the past three months, two doctors and six healthcare professionals who work voluntarily for IHH participated in the Africa cataract project, conducting 700 cataract operations in the regions to which they had been assigned.

Volunteers participate in domestic aid distributionTh e distribution of sacrifi cial Qurban meat and food aid to needy families was conducted in Istanbul, Sakarya, Bolu, Düzce, Kocaeli, Bursa, Kütahya, Uşak, İzmir and Balıkesir. 100 of our volunteers participated in the distribution eff orts as part of the IHH teams. In addition, 50 of our volunteers worked to distribute foodstuff s and sacrifi cial Qurban meat to Iraqi, East Turkistani, Chechen, Ahiskan and Uzbek refugee families and international students in Istanbul, Tokat, Sivas and Çorum

Welcomed Mavi Marmara with our volunteersA total of 410 volunteers took part in the welcoming ceremony of the Mavi Marmara on December 26 in Istanbul; thousands of friends from Palestine also participated. In the two weeks following the return of the ship, 150 of our volunteers supported us every day as tens of thousands of people visited the Mavi Marmara.

Ehda Educational Institutions and IHH hand in handStudents from the Private Neva Primary School, which is part of the Ehda Educational Institutions in Sakarya, as well as the Kerime Hatun High School and Mefkure Coaching Center, have provided important voluntary assistance for IHH since 2004. Here are some of the projects which the students have been supporting through their own allowances.

• 4,750 TL in aid has been sent to Indonesia, hit by an earthquake tsunami in 2004

• 2,500 TL of aid to Pakistan, hit by an earthquake in 2005

• 16,000 TL donated for a water-well in Niger in 2007

• 4,300 TL donation to the IHH Africa Cataract Project in 2008

• 12,000 TL sent to Palestine in 2009

• 900 TL in aid in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Elazığ, Turkey on March 8, 2010

• A donation of 8,200 TL, the exact cost of a house, to the permanent housing project in Pakistan in 2010

• Annual contributions through IHH Eid ul Adha campaign.

58 59

focus focusfocusfocus

No fear after today …

Mustafa Öztürk


58 59


Forms of oppression Poverty, unemployment, a high cost of living, corruption, ignoring the public will, an unjust distribution of income, corruption, nepotism and oppression in freedom of thought, expression and action had become ordinary factors in the lives of the Tunisian public. Policies like the one-party system, the security system, the arbitrary detention of individuals who held Islamic or any opposing views, surveillance, suppression and the threats against the relatives of detainees, banning women wearing hijab from entering schools, institutes, universities or other offi cial institutions, their dismissals from their jobs, and the refusal to issue these women with passports, online censorship policies, stealing online passwords, and website hacking; Tunisian people are tired of all these.

Every kind of people in the country had been aff ected by these policies of oppression in some way. Th e nation

had become a police state in the fullest sense; one out of every two people saw the other as an “agent of the state” and acted accordingly. When three people gather in the street, the police would soon arrive and issue them a warning, demanding they immediately disperse.

In the nation whose the number of soldiers is 30,000 and the number of police offi cers is up to 150,000, despite the oppression by the hand of the police on the public, the police were not trusted by the state either; a police offi cer was assigned to monitor every other police offi cer and in this way, the pressure was put on the police as well. Since the armed police were considered to be a potential threat to the regime, so many of them carrying empty holsters, or even if they had a weapon, it would not have any bullets.

Th e oppression and cruelty had reached such an extent that the

system even forbade seeking refuge in Allah! Men were stationed in front of mosques, and everything was notated and reported – ranging from who came to the mosque at what time and with what frequency to what the imam preached and whether or not he provided private lessons to the congregation, as well as notation of those houses in which the lights were switched on at the time for morning prayer.

Th e graffi ti: “Th ere is no fear after today!”, which we saw frequently scrawled on walls as we wandered through the Tunisian streets, is itself an open indication of the dimensions of the fear that had spread through the public and the state of fear that had been established.

Corruption In Tunisia, where corruption and lawlessness were perpetrated by the elites themselves, commercial life was dominated by the sons-in-law and brothers-in-law of the head of state; they had descended upon the public like a mafi a. Th ings had reached such a point that nothing could happen without their permission. Th e Ben Ali and Trabelsi (the wife of the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali) families had major holdings in Tunisian banks, airline companies, car rental companies, radio and television stations, shopping centers and industrial fi rms.

Despite all his policies of oppression,

The fi nal scream pierced through the air. Th e looks of those who saw him were fi lled with horror. Everyone on the street turned in that

direction. Th ose gathered around him screamed in anxiety, and ran back and forth helplessly. Something had to be done, something, but what?A little earlier, unemployed university student Muhammad Bouazizi, whom the police had not allowed to continue peddling in the street by confi scating his cart of oranges, had doused himself in gasoline and set himself fi re. Muhammad could not have known that by this action he would move the masses. He didn’t know that the iron fi st of the despot, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, which had ruled for 23 years, would be thrown. Instantly, Muhammad’s fi re spread through in this small, pleasant Mediterranean country in North Africa with a population of 10 million and whose economy relies upon agriculture and tourism.

60 61


Zine El Abidine Ben Ali placed great

importance upon education, and

substantially raised the nation’s

educational standard. And this was

perhaps his greatest mistake in terms

of his own interests. Of the 80,000

youths who graduated from Tunisian

universities annually, only 20,000

were able to fi nd jobs. Many university

graduates, unable to fi nd employment,

set their sights abroad, and these

youths, opening up to the rest of the

world, became more quickly aware of

the contrasts between the rest of world

and their own country.

There’s something

strange about this…

Tunisia is neither East nor West,

not entirely European, not entirely

African… First the French occupation,

and then, since 1956 until the present,

despotic regimes… Th e country’s Arab

characteristics have almost been

lost, while the Europeanness is yet

to emerge. Like an duck-bill platypus,

it resembles neither a bird nor a

mammal…

From the capital Tunis, where we

traveled to provide humanitarian

aid, we headed toward other cities

where there have been also erupted

events. After the journey that ran

mostly through vibrant green fi elds

and neatly planted olive gardens, we

stopped in front of a coff eehouse in

the humble town of Ruhiya, in order

to both catch our breath and see the

situation among the people there..

Upon learning that we had come

from Turkey, the people showed an

extra sympathy to us. Interestingly

enough, we saw that they knew

many things about Turkey. In

particular, they constantly asked

us questions related to the Mavi

Marmara, and lament: “Th ere were

Algerians on the ship, but nobody

from Tunisia participated.”

Th en, a mother of two children

shouted: “We’re all hungry.”

Gesturing in turn toward her

children and other inhabitants

of the town, she shouted, “Aren’t

these children hungry, aren’t you all

hungry, aren’t we all hungry?”

While there are vast green fi elds and

olive gardens on one side, on the other

there is poverty and misery, this is

the most heart-breaking combination.

We thought that there’s something

strange, and asked, than we learned

that the green fi elds we had passed by

belonged to the state. Th at is to say, to

the Ben Ali and Trabelsi families. Th us,

the role of the public amidst this great

wealth is nothing more than modern

slavery.

Just freedom…

For years they remained alone with

all the pain they had buried within

themselves in silence, and only now

have they become able to speak

with one another. A colonel who

had been kicked out of the Hadiri


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Muslims sang, hand in hand, for years

in prisons are now being sung in

the streets without fear, freely and

with the tears of happiness. And we

are joining them, trying to share the

pain they have suff ered; “Fi himaka

Rabbana, fi sabili dinina, la yarauna-l-

fana, fatawalla nasrana, wahdina ila-

s-sunan.” For us, this is an inexplicable

emotion. By these lamentations they

had became brothers at Madrasa

al-Yusufi ya and now we are a part of

this brotherhood.

The clock is ticking

Th e Tunisian people, having

overthrown Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

and his regime, have yet to produce a

leader to take his place. For now they

are merely living in this new dream

army explained what they had

gone through immediately after the

rebellion in the country: “It was the

fi rst day of these events, and I was

waiting in a bread line. People were

discussing the course of the events

with one another. I said to them, ‘Yes,

today we are in line for bread – but

until now, we ever never been able

to come together and speak, we were

all suspicious of one another, weren’t

we?’”

Today, the Tunisian people have much

more freedom than they have ever,

and perhaps the most freedom that

they will have ever after this day. In

everywhere, people break the silence

that they have put up with since ages,

as much as they can. Now, everyone

is speaking about everything freely.

Th e lamentations that Tunisian

and enjoying it.

We are concerned that if the demands

are not met quickly in an appropriate

manner and with the correct mechanism,

the tides of this situation will turn against

the Tunisian public. Th is movement –

one which has all the legitimacy and

deserving the highest praises - consists

of intellectuals, opinion leaders and those

who truly love the Tunisian people; should

immediately take action. Th ey must

provide direction to this uncontrolled

randomness and adopt a secure line for

themselves. Th is is absolutely essential for

the Tunisian people.

Yes, all of this will tire the Tunisian people

and require great devotion; but there is a

password that will ease this exhaustion:

Freedom, dignity, justice…

62 63


Arab perestroika to surround the entire world

At almost every century through the human history, there have been shifts or rebellions that changed world politics. When we examine these revolutions against cruelty, oppression, tyranny, corruption and moral degeneration, we can observe every kind of people have participated in these movements. Th is is a social explosion and emerges like a fl ood or storm, aff ecting a great area. It is impossible to stand before such a movement; it sweeps away everything on its way. What matters in these situations, is how to direct this change of wind.

Th e change of wind that is currently storming through the Arab world is actually the delayed impact of the collapse of systems that were formed during the Cold War period. Th e Eastern European countries went through such an experience in 1989; and at the beginning of the ‘90s the countries of Central Asia underwent this as well. It was actually the collapse of the Berlin Wall that indicated the end of the Cold War period. But for a period of nearly 20 years eff orts were made to keep the remnants of the Cold War in the Arab world alive

through artifi cial methods. Such a wave of change was inevitable, and nobody could stand in the way of the Arab world’s own perestroika.

Th e events that have occurred in recent days in Arab countries are reminiscent of the events in the 50s, even if they are not entirely similar. During the era of these years, the two important colonial powers of England and France had begun to lose their direct sovereignty over the Arab geography. Th e puppet leaders who came to exist by the direct interventions of England or France

Turan Kışlakçı


62 63


began to be dragged into the maelstrom of domestic administrative crises as well as the increasingly accelerating mass public movements, while they were also being forced to emerge from their isolated, secure strongholds and face the chaotic atmosphere of the outside world. Th is development had the eff ect of an earthquake on international and regional power balances, and prepared the ground for widespread surges in the public masses and military coups that were infl uenced by nationalist streams. During this time, new actors began to emerge

onto the stage of the global powers; unable to deal with either domestic or external problems, the Arab regimes once more withdrew into their ivory towers. A new global era was ushered in, known as the Cold War; England and France were no longer infl uences. Th eir places were now taken by the US and the Soviet Union.

In short, we can divide the political history of the Arab world into two sections, since the fall of the Ottoman state in 1922 up to the present: Th e fi rst

was the period of British and French colonialism, while the second was a period of covert American imperialism that encompassed the region after the Second World War. And now, we are witnessing the birth of a new era: the 21st century in which the Arabic public is fi nally being rescued from extreme dependency. 21st century in which the Arabic public is fi nally being rescued from extreme dependency.

64 65


Events ushering in the 21 centuryTh e fi rst decade of the 21st century was a time of the so-called era of war on terror. Following the events of 9/11, millions of people were killed in unjust and illegal wars in many Muslim countries, beginning with Iraq and Afghanistan. In secret prisons established by the US, including those at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and Bagram, tens of thousands of people were either killed or subjected to grisly forms of torture in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Pakistan.

Also during this period, the world displayed a severe reaction to Israel’s barbaric attacks and the blockade of Gaza. Successfully defending this land, the Hezbollah organization in the small state of Lebanon sent Israel into a state of disorder – despite the fact that Israel had great world powers behind it. After this, in Gaza, which was little less than the world’s largest open-air prison, Hamas defeated Israel with a handful of faithful soldiers. Th us, two small organizations succeeded in accomplishing what Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia could not, making a place for themselves in the hearts of the world and particularly amongst the regional publics. In the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident which followed this, the Muslim public signaled that they would rise up in the name of the oppressed…

In the aftermath of these events, the world has been overcome by a silence in the last year. Everyone thought that this was the calm before a storm. And the storm that broke out in 2011, which has become, and will continue to be, the year of struggle against dictators and tyrants. Th e world will never be the same again. Th e fl ames that have engulfed the entire Arab world, from Tunisia to Egypt, Libya to Yemen, represent a new hope for

st


64 65


humanity. To quote the words of Fikret Başkaya, “Th e Nile Revolution is teaching a lesson to the Western eff endis and those who share their worldview, a lesson that they certainly were not expecting and to which they are not accustomed. Th e beginning of the end of the 500-year bourgeoisie sultanate is being proclaimed; and with a full wisdom, maturity, solemnity and grace… In short, once more friends and enemies alike are being shown what human honor means, the magnitude of what can happen when the masses arise, and who the true agents of history are…”

These winds will aff ect the entire worldTh e post-Cold War world is being reshaped anew. Th e war that the US has waged for sole polarity over the past 20 years has ended unsuccessfully. Th e Vietnam syndrome in Afghanistan and Iraq and the economic crisis were the beginning. To summarize, today, the US-aligned system –also known as global capitalism– has been increasingly foiled by the impact of the deep crises into which it has fallen, and it is now losing its spheres of infl uence, one by one. Unable to accept this void, the global power mechanism is searching for new global and regional power centers in order to regain the balance. And as part of the agony of this quest, there are new mass public movements and revolutions taking place. Th at is to say, the process we fi nd ourselves in is part of the natural course of history. It is none other than this search for new actors by the global power mechanism that sparked off the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions and brought them success. As Tunisia and Egypt were

insuffi cient, the search continues. As a result, new revolutions will also take place. Th is will continue until the results of these revolutions presents a new global power center.

Th e renowned British author John Pilger says in a piece in which he evaluates the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt: “It is what people across the world have struggled for and their thought controllers have feared.” Stating that public awareness is increasing throughout the world and that this latest wave has overcome the liberal imperial elite who have been working to keep them under control through fear, Pilger concludes his piece entitled “Th e Egyptian revolt is coming home” with a rather striking sentence: “‘We won’t stop,’ said the young Egyptian woman [in Cairo’s Liberation Square], ‘We won’t go home.’ Try kettling a million people in the centre of London, bent on civil disobedience, and try imagining it is not possible.”

66 67

in the fi eld in the fi eldin the fi eldin the fi eld

Should you happen upon the Republic of South Africa in your travels, its

cemeteries are the place that will best relate to you the history of the country and the Muslims there. If you do not visit them, you will not be able to understand Islam’s entry into the country, nor this region’s ties to Anatolia, nor the extent of racial discrimination in the country.

With its ocean view from a slope of the world-famous Table Mountain, the Tana Baru Cemetery is the fi rst place where this historical heritage can be accessed. It is a run-down cemetery where the fi rst generation of Muslims brought to South Africa as slaves 400 years ago were buried. It is no longer in use.

During the colonial period, the Dutch brought many Malay Muslims to South Africa as slaves. Th e hundreds of thousands of Muslims were unable to bring even a single book along with them, and the task of committing to writing their sacred book from memory fell to Hafi dh Shaykh Guru, who was also part of this forced migration. Th e Qur’an that he wrote from memory while in prison would serve for decades as a spiritual anchor for Muslims in the region. Looking at the cemetery from his graveside, the fate, hopes, pains and longings of these people stuck thousands of kilometers away from their home countries appear before our eyes.

When you climb toward the mountainside from the graveyard, your attention is drawn to a far-off , solitary grave. It is the resting place of Ebu Bekir Efendi, who was sent by the Ottoman sultan, Abdülaziz, to the region in 1863 to serve as a guide for Muslims in the region on religious subjects. In addition to his mission of calling to people to Islam, Ebu Bekir Efendi also contributed to the formation of a serious political and cultural aggregation in the region; he was instrumental in bringing awareness to thousands of Muslims as well as in the establishment of dozens of madrasas and the opening of mosques.

The light of history illuminates the day Ahmet Emin DağDuring the colonial period, the Dutch brought many Malay Muslims to South Africa as slaves. Th e hundreds of thousands of Muslims were unable to bring even a single book along with them, and the task of committing to writing their sacred book from memory fell to Hafi dh Shaykh Guru, who was also part of this forced migration. Th e Qur’an that he wrote from memory while in prison would serve for decades as a spiritual anchor for Muslims in the region.


66 67

in the fi eld in the fi eldin the fi eldin the fi eld

At his graveside, the life of this caller to Islam, lying alone in this far-off corner of the earth, passes before our eyes and minds. After taking as little as six months to learn the local language, Ebu Bekir Efendi ensured that the Ottoman culture was introduced to the region. In fact, when the Anzac soldiers who had been brought from Australia to fi ght at Gallipoli entered the Cape Town streets on shore leave, they saw the Muslims there wearing the Ottoman fez; they thought they had stumbled upon an area occupied by the enemy, and retreated with all haste back to their ships. Only after being reassured by the British colonial authorities in the region did the Anzacs understand what had happened, and upon receiving promise of security they returned to explore the town.

Th e home in which Ebu Bekir Efendi lived is now a museum. His books and the desk at which he wrote are still there. Th e museum also contains items related to the Malays, pictures, a fez, a turban, a lectern with a Qur’an and its translation on it, and other historical memoirs.

When we descend a few kilometers down the slope, we come across another cemetery, one that is still in use. A number of important fi gures rest here.

Th e Muslim minorities paid a heavy price for their opposition not just to

the colonial administration, but also to its most apparent policy, that of racial discrimination. Th e most prominent of the fi gures who paid this price with martyrdom was Imam Abdullah Harun. While reading from the Qur’an at his graveside, we think about his life of struggle, which began following his 1956 appointment as imam at the age of 32 in the Claremont neighborhood masjid on the birthday of the Holy Prophet (saw). Tears spring to our eyes at the memory of the 13-year period that lasts from when he was taken into custody on the streets we have only just walked and the time he died from torture. Not far off is the grave of his intellectual mentor, Ismail Ganief Edwards.

Imam Harun led an active struggle that included everything from mosque study groups for women and children to the distribution of charity to the poor, as well as activities in opposition of racial discrimination and colonialism; he was also in communication with Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress which was fi ghting against the racist regime.

Our next stop is the prison on Robben Island, where Mandela spent 27 years and the cemeteries there. Nelson Mandela was accompanied by some Muslim leaders on this island. He learned

information about Islam from them, and they struggled together against the occupying whites.

Th e most important reason for the relatively decent standard of living for the over 1 million Muslims that live scattered throughout the cities of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban in today’s Republic of South Africa is the solid foundation laid down by the abovementioned fi gures.

It is striking to see that despite the fact that 80 percent of the population is black, the discrimination of the apartheid era continues on the level of social and economic life. Th e small segment of the population that is composed of people of mixed heritage and whites are better off economically than the blacks. Th e problem of security in this nation is also fundamentally rooted in this injustice in income distribution. Th e unemployed are nearly all black.

Th e Muslims have become a trusted segment of society, for they always sided with righteousness and justice both during the colonial and apartheid periods. It is unlikely that their slave forefathers a few generations back would ever have imagined that the Muslim minority would today wield serious political and economic infl uence in the country.

> Grave of Abu Bakr Eff endi > Grave of Imam Abdullah Harun

68 69people of

good deeds

She was therebecause she cared

Cindy’s beloved daughter Rachel was still thinking of the children: “I don’t know if many of the children here have ever lived without tank-shell holes in their walls or the towers of an occupying force surveying them constantly from the near horizon. I think, although I’m not entirely sure, that even the smallest of these children understand that life is not like this everywhere.”

68 69people of

good deeds

“I’m here for other children.

I’m here because I care.

I’m here because children everywhere are suff ering and because forty thousand people die each day from hunger.

I’m here because those people are mostly children.

We have got to understand that the poor are all around us and we are ignoring them.

We have got to understand that these deaths are preventable.

We have got to understand that people in third world countries think and care and smile and cry just like us.

We have got to understand that they dream our dreams and we dream theirs.

We have got to understand that they are us. We are them.

My dream is to stop hunger by the year 2000.

My dream is to give the poor a chance.

My dream is to save the 40,000 people who die each day.

My dream can and will come true if we all look into the future and see the light that shines there.

If we ignore hunger, that light will go out.

If we all help and work together, it will grow and burn free with the potential of tomorrow.”(Rachel Corrie, 1989)

H. Zehra Öztürk

Th is tale begins in Olympia and travels many miles, towards the story of children on the other side of the ocean. Rachel is there and she is there for other children, because she cares. Rachel Corrie was born in Olympia, US in 1979. She was born as the third child of Cindy and Craig Corrie, preceded by Sarah and Chris. She was a free-spirited child with dreams, and she had a strong conscience. At the early age of 10 she was already aware of the children who lived outside of the “American dream,” the dream of which she was a part.

She was a successful student who was interested in art. She always had artwork papers and crayons near her. In her spare time she would visit hospitals and retirement homes and try her best to help the people who were there. She went to Russia during her fi rst international school trip. She liked the streets of Moscow with their smog, dirt and cold, becoming enamored by the disorder in Moscow compared to the orderliness in her hometown of Olympia. On her way back home, she wrote in her diary: “I am returning home, but why am I not happy?”

Perhaps Rachel was searching for the reality outside of the “American dream.” It was after 9/11 and something was going wrong in the lands where other children lived. Military operations by great powers that would turn Afghanistan into a cemetery had started, and the issue of an intervention into Iraq had come onto the agenda. “Th e fi ght against

70 71people of

good deeds

terror,” had created enemy fi ghters and accompanying the offi cial policies of the US there was a grave paranoia against Muslims who were US citizens had started to appear.

“It was immediately following the post 9/11 period,” explains Rachel’s mother Cindy. “Rachel had begun to question the actions of the US government and had begun to take a particular interest in Middle Eastern politics.” Rachel’s information and interest in other nations, particularly the Middle East, was increasing with each passing day. She and her university friends were trying their best to spread knowledge among the locals regarding the American military operations in the Middle East and to organize various activities to this end. At the same time, Rachel was closely following all that was happening in Palestine.

Rachel was in communication with

her activist friends, following closely all that was happening in the region. She thought that she had to be in Gaza and that she must experience and see what was happening in order to fully understand what was taking place. “I am coming.” she said in a letter she wrote to her friends in Gaza. And before much more time had elapsed, she set forth on her journey.

What could be described as the Israeli propaganda machine greeted her at the airport in Tel Aviv. She was quickly handed a booklet which said, “Th e number of people dying in traffi c accidents exceeds that of those who die in wars!” But Rachel knew this was not the case. As a matter of fact, she too was to live in Gaza…

First she went to Jerusalem (al-Quds) followed by the West Bank. While in Jerusalem, working in human rights workshops, she could hear the sounds of ambulances carrying

Palestinians who had been wounded as a result of Israeli fi re. She saw the Israeli settlements, the construction of the Wall in the West Bank, the Palestinians who were treated like second class citizens in the occupied lands, as well as the social, fi nancial and political dimensions of the occupation fi rst hand. She could not believe what she was witnessing. She was fully aware of what was happening, yet all of this could not really be happening! In the e-mails so wrote to her family she said, “If I had read hundreds of books and attended conferences and watched documentaries, I still would not have been able to understand what is really happening here.”

Rachel thought that the truths which she witnessed should be known by all. For this reason, she began writing letters to those whom she knew in Olympia, explaining what she

70 71people of

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was experiencing. Th e teacher and student groups in Olympia suggested that they become pen-pals with the children of Gaza. Rachel liked this idea, but this was only a small step in cooperation and there was much that needed to be done.

While trying to write letters to activists who were interested in what was happening in Palestine, she was also busy planning protests with her activist friends in Palestine. Th ey were exerting eff orts to prepare press releases and protests so that the violations which occurred would be echoed globally. Rachel stayed in Palestine for around 3 months. She participated in the protests against the destruction of water wells and tried to prevent the destruction of homes in the Rafah region of Palestine. Rachel had become friends with the Palestinians. She was teaching children English while she learned Arabic from them. Cindy’s beloved daughter Rachel was still thinking of the children: “I don’t know if many of the children here have ever lived without tank-shell holes in their walls

or the towers of an occupying force surveying them constantly from the near horizon. I think, although I’m not entirely sure, that even the smallest of these children understand that life is not like this everywhere.”

One day she said: “I am in Rafah, but I feel safe,” to her father; in an email she wrote to her mother she said: “Yesterday a bomb struck the home of the family I am staying with. Just as I was preparing tea and I was playing with two little babies, all of the house’s windows came down.” Rachel was experiencing Palestine and Gaza in all its reality.

In her emails she wrote: “If I were to return I would not be comfortable. After seeing everything that is being experienced here, I have to do something. I will come to Olympia and take care of my personal matters, and share what is happening here; but I must return again as soon as possible.”

And on Feb. 27th, she wrote the following to her mother: “Mom, I love you and I miss you so much…I have

bad nightmares about tanks and bulldozers outside our house, and you and me inside. .”

Th ere were tanks and bulldozers in Rachel’s home because Rachel had now become Palestine. Exactly 19 days after having this dream, Rachel stood in front of an Israeli bulldozer at the Rafah border region. She stood before a bulldozer which wanted to destroy the home of a Palestinian family and she used her body as a shield. “I am a human rights activist. I am a US citizen, stop!” is what she was screaming. However, the bulldozer didn’t stop.

On March 16, 2003, at the age of 23, Rachel was killed by Israel. She said farewell to her life in Gaza, on the land about which she had said: “I am here because I care”. Israel had yet again brutally murdered another civilian. Rachel’s story has spread throughout the world and Rachel’s voice continues to echo for Palestine, for justice...

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There is an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Libya. Over 10.000 people lost

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9 projects dedicated to the 9 martyrs who lost their lives in the Israeli attack on Gazza Freedom Flotilla are being implemented. Cultural centers, learning centers, sport centers and student dormitories are being erected in the

hometowns of these martyrs.

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+90 0212 631 21 21

www.ihh.org.tr

There is an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Libya. Over 10.000 people lost

their lives during the skirmish. The survivors cannot provide vital needs

like food, medicine and sheltering. The Libyan people struggling to

survive in the middle of a violent conflict are waiting your help urgently.

Help Libyans now.

ZiRAAT BANK TR180001000488535353535065 EURO TR880001000488535353535066

TÜRKiYE FiNANS BANK USD TR910020600004007777770116 EURO TR370020600004007777770118

POSTAL CHEQUE 1605451

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Documents

IHH Humanitarian Relief Magazine 45