Thirteen of the trucks have been sent from İstanbul to Mersin where the humanitarian aid ship will set sail for Somalia. The ship is set to sail from the Mersin Port for Mogadishu on Aug. 29.The rest of the aid trucks have begun to travel to the Mersin Port from various provinces of Turkey.
IHH has been rapidly continuing relief efforts in East Africa. The foundation which sent an aid ship with a capacity of 3,000 tons to Somalia in early August is now preparing to send a second aid ship with a capacity of 6,000 tons.
A press statement was released before the departure of 13 aid trucks from İstanbul. IHH President Bülent Yıldırım who was first to speak said: “We are faced with the biggest disasters in the world history. We are trying to take relief to all the regions in East Africa which fights against hunger. Our aid teams go even to the most dangerous areas of Somalia to take aid to famine victims.”
“This region where human kidnappings are very common is one of the most dangerous regions we have gone to so far. With local institutions there, we have been carrying out relief efforts in this region for 15 years. ASKON’s aid for Somalia is of crucial importance. I offer my thanks to ASKON and Bağcılar Mayor Lokman Çağırıcı for their contributions,” added Yıldırım.
For his part, ASKON President Mustafa Koca said he has difficulty in believing the fact that humans still die of hunger in the 21st century.
“We sat with our friends at ASKON and discussed what we can do for the humanitarian tragedy in Somalia. We thought that we should take action first to end this shame. On this holy Laylat’ul Qadr, we are very happy that we are extending a helping hand to our brothers and sisters in Somalia through the IHH. We do not have to act in compliance with the liberal capitalism rules of the 21st century; we are joining in this aid effort just to win God’s sake. I offer my thanks to all of my friends who contributed to the collection of aid for Somalia,” said Koca.
