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Turkish aid in Indonesia leaves lasting impression
Donations from Turkish people were used to renovate 1,050 residences, three schools, the city’s largest public hospital and numerous mosques. Turkish civil society organizations also provided emergency aid such as tents and food shortly after the tsunami hit.
Homes in a village built by the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) called Kızılay Lampuuk Village were seen as exemplary in their standards.
“Turkey was one of the first countries in the world to provide for victims,” Aydın Evirgen, the Turkish ambassador to Indonesia, told the Anatolia news agency. Evirgen said that various Turkish civil society organizations had helped victims in Banda Aceh, and although financial aid from Turkey had been far below that of other countries, Turkey had been very successful in revitalizing the region. “All this was appreciated in Indonesia,” he added.
Evirgen also noted that one of the biggest contributions by the Turkish people to those of Banda Aceh was psychological rehabilitation. “They see our country as a trustworthy and friendly country. Culturally, the most comfortable country here is Turkey,” Evirgen underlined.
The Turkish Red Crescent has launched projects at a Red Crescent center to help Indonesians heal their psychological wounds, particularly women and children. Psychological counseling is offered by local Indonesian doctors every day of the week. There are educational activities in the center, too. “One can renovate buildings and repair physical establishments but repairing psychological damage is extremely difficult. The center has undertaken a very important task in this sense,” Evirgen said, assessing the center’s activities.
Turkish aid associations have also helped earthquake victims in the capital, Jakarta, and Padang since Banda Aceh. “This has raised Turkey’s profile in Indonesia. All this has caused Turkish people to be regarded with affection here,” Evirgen added.
Indonesian officials request Turkish schools for every city
“We want a Turkish school in every city in Indonesia,” Turkish Ambassador to Indonesia Aydın Evirgen quoted Taufik Kiemas, the Indonesian parliament speaker, as saying at the Turkish Embassy while addressing Turkish aid workers and officials who had come to Indonesia because of Eid al-Adha.
“There has been notable progress in Indonesia, and yet Turkish businessmen have not discovered Indonesia. Indonesian officials have repeatedly praised Turkish schools here,” Evirgen said. “I visited Kiemas to congratulate him on his new post as parliament speaker, and we talked about the Turkish schools here. He said Indonesia had reached a new horizon due to the success of Turkish schools in international science olympiads. Evirgen said Kiemas requested that every city in Indonesia have a Turkish school and kindly asked for priority to be given to his hometown, Palembang.
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