IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation (; full: ,The organization regularly gives its name as , but the full version in which the Turkish word ve ("and") appears twice is the foundation's name as given in Article 1 of its act of establishment: in English: The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief) or İHH is a major Turkish non-governmental organization that operates globally to provide humanitarian relief, development aid, and disaster response.
Established in 1992 and officially registered in Istanbul in 1995, İHH provides humanitarian relief in areas of war, earthquake, hunger, and conflict. The İHH holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2004. Current president of the İHH is Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım. In 2015 IHH notably campaigned to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. İHH is also active in SAR (Search and Rescue) operations. Hosting around 850 volunteer search and rescue trained personnel, İHH has multiple SAR teams stationed in different cities of Turkey, ready for action at all times.
The İHH was owner and operator of three flotilla ships involved in the convoy intended to breach the blockade of Gaza in 2010. These ships included the MV Mavi Marmara, a passenger vessel that served as the flagship of the convoy. Nine passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, many of them members of the İHH, were killed by the Israeli military during the Gaza flotilla raid.
The IHH through its collaboration with Turkish intelligence, sometimes acts as an intermediary between the National Intelligence Organisation and the Syrian rebels. The IHH has been accused by Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the former chief of French counterterrorism unit of having ties to Islamist organizations such as Al Qaeda but is not considered to be a terrorist organization by the US. The IHH has close links to the Turkish government and specifically the ruling Turkish political party AKP under Turkish president Erdogan. The New York Times reported that IHH assisted Erdogan in 2010 elections. IHH receives funding from the Qatari Eid charity.
Background The Istanbul-based Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) is an Islamic charity group that was formed to provide aid to Bosnian Muslims in the mid-1990s. It has been involved in aid missions in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Sudan, Somalia, Ghana, Mongolia, China, Brazil, Argentina and other places.
The organization is active in Turkey, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Caucasus. İHH has held Special Consultative status as an NGO (non-governmental organization) in the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2004. İHH is the organizer of Africa Cataract Project which aims to fight against blindness in Africa.
Mission and trustees The IHH's stated public aims to reach every region hit by wars, disasters, poverty and human rights abuses, and believes that civilian initiatives play a complementary role beside intervention by states and international organizations in resolving humanitarian problems. It is also their goal to deliver humanitarian aid to all people and take necessary steps to prevent any violations against their basic rights and liberties.
These goals are achieved through the delivering of foodstuffs, clothes and tents to crisis regions hit by wars, conflicts, and natural disaster to meet urgent needs of victims. The foundation further provides health services in drought and aridity-stricken regions where poverty and deprivation have become chronic, and carries out long-term projects that aim at enabling local peoples stand on their own feet. For those wanting to work with the organization, some emphasized activities include take active part in their activities, making donations or fund-raising, organizing seminars, and distributing posters. It receives funding from the Qatari Eid charity.
Trustees of the organization include: Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım – president Hüseyin Oruç – deputy president Mahmut Savaş – charter member
Memberships and recognition The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief belongs to a number or organizations, including the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in the special consultative status, the Organization of Islamic Conference's (OIC) Humanitarian Forum, the Council of International Organizations for Relief in Iraq, the Union of Non-governmental Organizations of the Islamic World (UNIW), and the Turkish Foundation for Volunteer Organizations (TGTV). The grouphas also received the following recognitions: The Parliament Award of Honour (Turkish Parliament) "Foundation that uses its resources in the most efficient way" (Turkish General Directorate of Foundations) Human rights award (COJEP, a Strasbourg-based, multicultural youth association)Mother Helpage Worldwide: IHH Turkey
Humanitarian activities The İHH provides social aid, Muslim cultural aid, educational aid, sanitary aid, emergency aid programs in 120 countries. It provides health care and water wells in Africa and runs the Africa Cataract Project, begun in 2007, in ten African countries. İHH has made it possible for thousands of people who have cataracts but who lack the economic means to be treated to see again. İHH built 1174 water wells in Africa. İHH sent two cargo planes to Haiti with 33 tons of humanitarian aid supplies after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
In December 2007, Today's Zaman wrote that "various civil society organizations such as Kimse Yok Mu? (Is Anybody There?), Deniz Feneri (Lighthouse), the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) and Can Suyu assisted thousands of charitable donors in reaching out to poverty-stricken residents of the Kurdish-dominated eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey."Eid helps boost unity in Turkey
World Bulletin wrote in August 2009 that hundreds of water wells were dug and fountains were built in an aid effort under the leadership of Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) across African countries. Several Turkish nongovernmental organizations, such as Kimse Yok Mu? (Is anybody there?), the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) and Deniz Feneri (lighthouse), also provided aid to storm survivors in Bangladesh.
İHH previously sent packages containing flour, legumes, oil and sugar to 350 families residing in Zewaya Dugda, one of the poorest regions in the Ethiopia. The UN announced that around 6 million children in Ethiopia faced risk of acute under-nutrition and urged countries to send aid.
After the earthquake in Indonesia, Doctors Worldwide and The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) sent volunteers and aid to Indonesia.Turkish charity foundations to help Indonesia İHH opened mosques, dug waterwells, distributed Qur'ans, organized iftars, aiding orphans and refugees in Darfur.
In Gaza, the İHH is renovating the port, funding a Turkish-Palestinian school and plans to build a hospital and apartments for Gazans made homeless during the Gaza War.
Collaboration with the United Nations IHH has been involved with the United Nations in a number of ways. For example, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief attended the 44th Session of the Commission for Social Development and contributed to the panel discussion for the eradication of poverty. The group has attended other meetings, including: The High Level Consultation and Workshop on Capacity-Building for the United Nations-Non-governmental Organization Informal Regional Network in Turkey (UN-NGO-IRENE/Turkey) World Refugee Day Programs with the cooperation of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)'s meeting about improving conditions of refugees in Turkey Preparations of Refugee Day Programs
Africa Cataract Project The project aims at performing 100.000 free cataract surgery operations in ten African countries: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad, Niger, Togo, Benin, Gana, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Volunteer Turkish surgeons and nurses take part in the project and travel to African countries for surgery. One of the objectives of the program is to offer free eye care for needy people. The Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency and Turkey's and Sudan's Ministries of Health are supporting the project. All surgeries are broadcast live on the project website and the IHH website.
In 2011, IHH worked with Turkish aid groups like Kimse Yok Mu, the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) and Doctors Worldwide in Somalia. IHH aid reached a total of 376,777 people. Relief efforts, totaling TL 2,420,612 (c US$400,00) included food and medicine distributions, digging 70 water wells, health screenings, fitr (alms) donations and iftars (fast-breaking meals). With regards to its work in Somalia, one worker said that "the İHH already has been working in Somalia for the last 15 years in the fields of education and social and medical care. As for the food crisis, the activities will continue for at least another three years because the drought has spread and it sounds like it's not over. But as for other fields, the İHH is there and the activities will continue." He continued that "in order to help families of orphans to make a living and stand on their own two feet, we gave the families of 40 orphans sewing machines and cows, while we gave another 20 families sesame and flour milling machines. In addition, the İHH offered medical examinations to 400 orphans and treated 137 children with various diseases."
Aid to Pakistan In 2010, the ship Gazze set sail for Pakistan to deliver humanitarian aid to the people affected by floods in the country.
In 2011, IHH worked with the Khubaib Foundation to distribute relief goods amongst 500 flood stricken families in Lakki Marwat, a southern district of Pakistan. Some of the items included 270 containers which contained both food and non-food items. This was among clothes, shawls, footwear, and food items including rice, beans, canned food, power milk and children's cereal that were also distributed.
Libyan civil war 2011 In response to the humanitarian situation during 2011 Libyan civil war, IHH sent a cargo ship carrying nine containers, 141 tons of humanitarian aid including medication, food packages, infant formula, milk powder, hygiene kits and clothing.
Xinjiang conference
The IHH worked with the Istanbul Peace Platform to host a conference focused on China's traditionally Turkic Muslim province of Xinjiang and which aimed to highlight the remote region's problems in the wake of the July 2009 riots in Ürümqi, Xinjiang's capital. Official Chinese government sources said nearly 200 people were killed and 1,600 wounded in the riots, the worst ethnic unrest in China in decades. Beijing claimed the riots were orchestrated by overseas activists for the rights of Uighurs, historically Xinjiang's largest ethnic group. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called the violence in Xinjiang "a kind of genocide."
Response to 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami
The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation sent a rescue team of 5 to the Japan. IHH deputy chairman Yaşar Kutluay said "we sent our team to Japan which also went to Haiti due to the earthquake and to Pakistan due to the floods and lastly went to Tunisia and Libya due to the recent developments. Our team will contact with Japanese authorities to organize relief works. Our team will bring sonar system and search and rescue equipments."