The TURKISH RED CRESCENT SOCIETY was born from a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded and sick soldiers on the battlefield

The Red Crescent was established on 11 June 1868 with the name "Osmanli Yarali ve Hasta Askerlere Yardim Cemiyeti" and was renamed as, "Osmanli Hilali Ahmer Cemiyeti" in 1877, "Turkiye Hilaliahmer Cemiyeti" in 1923,"Turkiye Kizilay Cemiyeti" in 1935, and "Turkiye Kizilay Dernegi" in 1947. The name "KIZILAY" was given to the organisation by the great leader Ataturk.

The emblem of the Red Crescent is a red “crescent” on a white background, which opens leftwards when viewed from the front. It is only on the Red Crescent flag that the open side of the "crescent" looks to the opposite direction of the mast.

The emblem of the Red Crescent has been accepted by the related stipulations of the Public International Law as a “protective and indicative sign” for the health services of the armed forces as well as the persons and organizations determined by those stipulations at times of war. No other person, board, or organisation may use this emblem, which is an indication of impartiality and immunity in wars.

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• ABOUT DISASTER OPERATION CENTER (DOC)• DOC, is established to provide on time, fast, effective and

synchronized response to a disaster, coming together of all the related units of Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS) in time of a disaster. 

• DOC is active 365 days in a year, 24 hour in a day. DOC in one hand monitors the disasters and continuously collects data to be prepared to a disaster and to determine the humanitarian assistance that can be needed during and after a disaster and trains relief teams. To be ready to a disaster DOC:

• Evaluates the geographic conditions, building types, population, economic and cultural structure of our country with other institutions and makes “risk and effect analysis”.

• Develops local, regional and national “disaster preparedness and response plans” from the results of these studies.

• Continuously renews these plans and uses to rearrange the disaster relief materials stocks according to need.

• Prepares “disaster scenarios” based on data from the past experiments.

Provides disaster preparedness and response training and forms qualified disaster operation teams.

To test the disaster response plans organize practices and trainings.

Organizes trains and supports search and rescue volunteer organizations.

TRCS, in the frame of reconstruction, now aims to increase the coping capacities of our society with all kind of disasters. DOC helps TRCS to aware public before disasters and crisis. In time

of disasters and crisis, helps to realize the effective humanitarian assistance of TRCS. By doing all these, consider TRCS’s capacities and develops measures to use them in right

places.

DOC, in time of crisis and disasters, TRCS provides coordination and cooperation between the relief teams at the disaster area and international relief organizations with Prime

Ministry Crisis Center.

Also communicates and coordinates with TRCS branches, warehouses, blood and medical centers, local and regional

crisis centers around Turkey.

Health Services for PilgrimsMuslim Pilgrims: Until 2002, for the 40 days of each Hajj

pilgrimage period, the TRCS Health and Social Services team provided free health services in the Saudi Arabian cities of

Mecca and Medina to Muslim pilgrims, who come there from Turkey and other countries, and health screening for students

studying at Turkish schools in the Saudi Arabian cities of Medina and Jeddah. However, these services have not been provided

since 2002.

Christian Pilgrims: The TRCS Izmir Branch provides health care support to Christian pilgrims, who come to Izmir in August and

October each year to visit the House of the Virgin Mary and Saint Maria Church.

HEALTH FACILİTES :The Branches of the Turkish Red Crescent Society provide health services in 41 health centres, consisting of 39 Medical Centres, 1 Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic and 1 Medical Imaging Centre, which provide direct services to the community in accordance with the stipulations of the Regulation of the Ministry of Health on Special Health Organizations That Provide Outpatient Diagnostic and Treatment Services published in the Official Gazette Number 23988 on 09 March 2000. The health organizations of the Turkish Red Crescent Society qualify as Medical Centres, and as they meet the standards of the Regulation, are able to provide health services to the members of the Social Security Scheme for State Employees, Public Officials, and members of other Public and Private Security Companies as well as the members of the BAGKUR Social Security Scheme and other organizations through the agreements signed in line with the opportunities granted by the Circulars of the Ministry of Health dated 05 June 2003, with reference number 11392.

When providing health services, the TRCS makes every effort to present quality health services within the purchasing power of the community and, to a certain extent, provides free medical examination services to our less well-to-docitizens.

The Turkish Red Crescent Society is a non-governmental organization “working for the benefit of the public.” It provides public services in close cooperation with official organizations. With another expression, the Turkish Red Crescent Society is a social service providing organization. Within this framework, the Headquarters and local Branches offer food, clothes, medicine, health and rehabilitation services for poor people, nursery school and kindergarten for children, scholarship, dormitories and youth camps for young people, houses and home-care services for the elderly people who had made donations. Department of Youth deals with scholarship, dormitory and camp related services for the young while public appeals for aid in cash and aid in kind are coordinated by the Department of Disaster Response and Relief. The remaining social services are provided by the Department of Social Services. Social services provided by our Department;

1. Services for the elderly: The Turkish Red Crescent Society offers institutional care and home-care services, principally for donors.There are four guesthouses located in Istanbul/Sisli, Bandirma, Edremit which are managed by the local Red Crescent branches and Akcakoca, directed by the Headquarters.Generous citizens who had donated to the Turkish Red Crescent are pre-eminently accepted to our guesthouses. They can accommodate at the guesthouses during lifetime or they can receive home-care service at their own houses. We also help our donors benefit from our health services in line with their needs. Accommodation at other guesthouses except for Akcakoca is possible in return for a compulsory monthly fee.

2. Public Nursery and Kindergarten Services: As a part of family support and social services, five public nurseries and kindergartens run by local branches offer services in return for monthly fees.

3. Social Relief Services: The Turkish Red Crescent Society provides within its capacity and by generous contributions of donors wheel-chairs, crutches and patient pads for the disabled. To qualify for the social relief, people who are poor and in need of social protection have to apply with necessary reports, medical receipts and certificates of poverty. After applications sent to our Department via branches are evaluated, people who are in real need of support are identified and due assistance is provided.

MissionTo ensure that the Turkish Red Crescent Society becomes a well-functioning National Society by enhancing the power, skills, and capacities of the human resources to enable them to deliver their services more efficiently and strengthen the disaster awareness of the community and the Red Crescent spirit through training.

Vision Standardize the service capacities of the human resources of the Turkish Red Crescent Society through an efficient Red Crescent Training System in order to support the efforts to be a sophisticated, reputable, qualified, and modern humanitarian aid organizat

MISSIONOur mission is to promote solidarity, goodwill, and benevolence among the youth, to strengthen brotherhood and friendship ties without any discrimination with regards to opinions, religion, race, and gender, to contribute to bring up a healthy generation, who love their country and the nation and are loyal to the Principles of Ataturk, to recruit and train Volunteer Red Crescent members, and to disseminate the Red Crescent Principles among the youth in our country and in the world.

VISIONOur vision is to establish the volunteering system and develop it along with youth services and disseminate it countrywide to make it efficient effective,andsustainable.

To carry out transactions related to the scholarship assistance provided to hardworking students, who have difficulties in continuing

their education using their own resources,

To open youth and health camps for young people between 11 and 17 years, particularly for those who are in need of social protection,

hardworking, and unable to go on holidays using their own resources and manage these camps in line with the related legislation,

To provide courses to train qualified personnel required to be assigned to roles in camp management and related activities,

To maintain contact with the Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies in other countries and organize international youth camps; participate in

such camps organized in other countries in order to promote the feelings of friendship, solidarity, and brotherhood between the youth

in our country and the world, and to disseminate the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Crescent and Red Cross

Movement, and contribute to the publicity of Turkey,

To prepare Red Crescent publications for the youth and distribute them in schools,

To cooperate with school administrations to ensure that Red Crescent Youth Clubs are established and that they carry out related activities

enthusiastically and productively,

To observe the activities of the Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies in other countries as well as the problems of the Turkish youth to identify

and make suggestions about useful activities for the youth,

To define the profile of a TRCS volunteer, the activity areas and roles of volunteers as well as the TRCS Youth Policy and submit them for

approval, 

To maintain records of the volunteers that apply to the Headquarters and the Branches, identify the activity areas they wish to serve in, ensure that

these records are transferred to a volunteers database, make the arrangements with regards to the awards to be granted to volunteers and

prepare the awards upon approval,

To coordinate, control, and lead the volunteering activities in the TRCS Headquarters and the organs of the TRCS throughout the country as well as the Branches; to prepare the application forms, identification

cards, and other related documents as required.