Date posted: September 27, 2015

Turkey-based charitable organization, Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anyone There?), which has been a target of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government’s unwarranted smear campaigns, represented Turkey as a nongovernmental organization at a UN summit that ran from Friday through Sunday.

The charity was among 607 NGOs from around the world that were invited to the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 in New York City.

Kimse Yok Mu’s foreign relations officer, Emrah Akgül, represented the charity at the gathering. Expressing pleasure at attending the summit, which brought prime ministers and presidents from 160 countries, he said the goal of the charity is to contribute to eradicating poverty and providing welfare for humanity.

Kimse Yok Mu, inspired by the faith-based Gülen or Hizmet movement, has come under intense pressure from the AK Party government in the last two years, with unwarranted investigations being carried out against the movement’s sympathizers.

The smear campaign against the charity organization is an example of the AK Party’s general animosity towards the Gülen movement, which is based on the teachings of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. He has inspired millions of people worldwide with his work for global peace through education, social work and dialogue.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accuses the movement of instigating the infamous corruption probes revealed on Dec. 17 and Dec. 25, 2013 involving ministers within his government and some of his family members.

Erdoğan has waged a self-declared war against the movement, even going so far as to say, “If reassigning individuals who betray this country is called a witch hunt, then yes, we will carry out this witch hunt,” during a speech at an AK Party conference in 2014.
The AK Party government has since then unjustly targeted schools, civil society organizations, media outlets, businessmen and many public servants who are inspired by the movement. The AK Party even declared the Gülen movement a terrorist organization.

Kimse Yok Mu is a charitable organization that is active in 113 countries across the globe. In addition to being internationally recognized and appreciated for its global efforts, Kimse Yok Mu is also an important implementing partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Source: Today's Zaman , September 26, 2015

Tags: Humanitarian aid | Peacebuilding |