- Oregon Faith Report - https://oregonfaithreport.com -

Mercy Corp. exits Turkey after concerns

[1] [2] [3] [4]

[5]By Mercy Corp. [6],

ANKARA, TURKEY and PORTLAND, ORE. – The Turkish government has revoked Mercy Corps’ registration that allows us to operate in Turkey, forcing us to shut down our operations in Turkey, effective immediately.

Our hearts are broken by this turn of events, which comes after five years of cooperation with the government of Turkey and other local partners.

Since 2012, Mercy Corps has conducted from Turkey one of the largest humanitarian operations in Syria, delivering urgently needed, lifesaving assistance to 350,000 to 500,000 innocent civilians in Syria each month. More recently, we have provided a range of social services and other emergency assistance in Turkey, reaching about 100,000 Syrian and Turkish men, women and children in 2016 alone.

Our operations in Syria will continue, and our priority right now is to limit any adverse effects our departure from Turkey may have on the innocent men, women and children who depend on our assistance. Our sites in Turkey are closed.

We continue to seek a dialogue with Turkish authorities in an effort to obtain permission to resume our operations in Turkey as soon as possible. We remain hopeful that the government of Turkey will allow us to return to serve those in critical need. We are grateful for the cooperation provided until now by Turkey, which has generously opened its doors to more than 3 million refugees since the Syria conflict began.

A leading global organization, Mercy Corps empowers people to survive through crisis, build better lives and transform their communities for good. With a team 5,000 strong, last year Mercy Corps reached approximately 30 million people in more than 40 countries around the world. We meet the urgent needs of today through emergency response and disaster preparedness, and build a stronger tomorrow by connecting people to the resources they need to strengthen their community from within. Join us and support our work.