Turkey among top nations contributing humanitarian aid

Turkey has contributed billions of dollars in humanitarian aid despite the fact that it is not the richest country in the world, an aid organization official said Friday on the eve of World Humanitarian Day.

According to Development Initiative's (DI) Global Humanitarian Assistance Report released in June, Turkey came in second after the U.S. among countries that contributed the most humanitarian aid in 2016.

Apart from financial aid, Turkey and Turkish charities provide food, health and education to people in several countries, including Somalia, Syria, Bangladesh and Uganda.

Turkey contributed $6 billion in humanitarian aid in 2016 while the U.S. contributed $6.3 billion, DI data shows.

Turkey ranks first if one takes into account national incomes. The country's gross national income was $857 billion in 2016, while in the U.S. it was $18.7 trillion.

Turkey's humanitarian aid in 2015 amounted to $3.2 billion. In 2016, this figure had increased by 115 percent to reach $6 billion.

Turkey had been ranked third place in the DI report for years 2013, 2014 and 2015, but it came in second in 2016.

İzzet Şahin, a senior official of Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), said: "Turkey is helping many regions where several countries and institutions have not been able to reach.

"Despite the fact that Turkey is not the richest country in the world, the country has carried itself to the top of humanitarian aid providers, which demonstrates the generosity of Anatolian people," Sahin said.

He said there had been a massive increase in people needing help due to man-made disasters.

"As the UN has helped many crisis regions, the UN Security Council cannot prevent the increase in the number of victims in crisis and warzones."

Turkey is also the country that continues to host the highest number of refugees -- 2.87 million -- in the world, according to official figures.

“Ongoing and new crises left an estimated 164.2 million people in 47 countries in need of international humanitarian assistance in 2016," DI report said.

The report also showed that humanitarian aid that was collected in 2016 across the world totaled $27.3 billion which met only 40 percent of all requirements.

DI is an independent international development organization that focuses on the role of data in driving poverty eradication and sustainable development.