The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) has contributed the final installments of a $100,000 grant to provide humanitarian aid to Iraqi Chaldean Christian refugees in Turkey.
The TCA grant is being administered through the Chaldean Federation of America (CFA) and the Chaldean-Assyrian Solidarity Association (KADER) in Turkey.
By August, one thousand Christian refugee families in Turkey will have received assistance—in the form of food coupons—through the grant program.
"The project arose from our belief that humanitarianism is a global endeavor," said G. Lincoln McCurdy, TCA President. "Historically, Turkey has been very welcoming to persecuted peoples of all religions and ethnic backgrounds, including Jews from Spain and Europe, as well as people fleeing violence from all over the Balkans, Crimea and Caucasus when the Ottoman Empire contracted. Modern Turkey has continued to provide food and shelter to hundreds of thousands of refugees, including Bulgarian Turks, Bosniaks, Iraqi Kurds and, most recently, thousands of Syrians fleeing violence in Syria. "Turkish Americans are helping to continue and strengthen Turkey's legacy of providing aid to peoples in desperate need," McCurdy explained. "The Chaldean/Assyrian community of Turkey, as well as the Chaldean Federation of America, have been wonderful allies for TCA in implementing this project. We are all proud to be leading the way in fostering solidarity and building new ties between the Chaldean and Turkish communities in the U.S. and in Turkey."
Turkey has become a major stopping point for Iraqi Christian refugees as they try to emigrate, primarily to Europe and North America where many have families. The refugees began leaving Iraq to escape persecution under Saddam Hussein, and have continued to view Turkey as a safe haven since the fall of the Saddam regime. There are currently an estimated 8,000 Iraqi Christians refugees in Turkey seeking support from the Turkish government and civil society organizations such as KADER.
"The CFA is grateful for TCA's interest and generosity in supporting Iraqi Chaldean refugees. We are creating a wonderful relationship and partnership here in the U.S.," said Joseph Kassab, CFA Executive Director. "But this is only the beginning; neither we, TCA nor the Turkish government can fully support all the Chaldean refugees, and we sincerely hope that by raising awareness of our work, we can encourage other organizations and individuals to step up and help those refugees rediscover the lives they lost when they fled to Turkey to escape persecution."
