Turkiye Diyanet Foundation supports the evacuation of Turkish citizens from Ukraine

Turkiye Diyanet Foundation supports the evacuation of Turkish citizens living in Ukraine due to the war between Ukraine and Russia.

  The second Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Turkiye Diyanet Foundation, Ihsan Acik, stated that Turkish citizens, including women and children, who were put on buses chartered by religious officials in Ukraine and the Religious Services Consultancy in coordination with the Turkish Embassy in Kiev, were greeted by Turkiye Diyanet foundation officials and volunteers at the Romania-Ukraine border crossing.

 Emphasizing that Turkiye has always stood by the oppressed, Acik said that wherever there is a need for aid, the Turkish people have mobilized to reach a helping hand there.

He stated that war and the oppressed have no language, religion, race, and they regard every living creature as a trust of Allah, Acik said, “Yesterday, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Palestine and today we are with the Ukrainian people. I hope not, but tomorrow, if there’s a war or any grievance elsewhere, we’ll still be there. We strive hard to keep the heritage of charity we received from our ancestors alive. Regardless of the language, religion, or nationality of the oppressed, we mobilize to relieve the suffering. Today, our citizens and family members in Ukraine are going through hard times. With the support of our nation, we try to make them feel that they are not alone.”

“Our activity will continue until our last citizen in the region evacuated”

Expressing that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy of the Republic of Turkiye are making great efforts for the evacuation of Turkish citizens living in Ukraine and these efforts are being carried out successfully, Acik continued as follows:

“We support the evacuation efforts through our foundation officials, our Religious Services Consultancy, and our religious officials working in the region. We haul our citizens waiting for evacuation on the buses we lease to the Romanian-Ukrainian border, and then we make sure that they come to Istanbul from highways. Until now, we have evacuated 4 bus citizens in this way. Our colleagues continue to work in the region. We will continue our activity until our last citizen in the region is evacuated.”

Pointing out that the teams from the Turkiye Diyanet Foundation’s headquarters reached the Romanian-Ukrainian border and that they tried to support the civilian population by offering food to the civilian population who left Ukraine and reached this region, Acik said: We also made the necessary plans. We are in talks with the relevant institutions of our state, such as AFAD and the Turkish Red Crescent, on this issue,” he said.

He said that citizens who want to deliver aid to the Ukrainian people can donate 10 TL at the bagis.tdv.org address or by writing YARDIM and sending SMS to 5601. 

(SMS valid just for Domestic GSM services)