How were the Red Cross and Red Crescent founded?

The idea for establishing a universal aid organization emerged because humans have not witnessed a life entirely free of suffering since the world began. It is not uncommon for one person to be suffering or one nation to be weeping while another person, or even a whole nation, is very happy. On the contrary, we have seen ten or fifteen people lose their lives instantly in a traffic accident, hundreds of families rendered homeless in a flood disaster, many people losing all their possessions after a fire, and particularly hundreds, even thousands, of people being disabled after a war. In these bitter days, the idea of establishing a “universal aid organization” to alleviate human suffering was conceived. Humane individuals from several nations gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 22, 1864, and decided to establish the “Red Cross” organization, signing a convention.

This convention primarily proposed that all nations establish “Aid Societies” for the victims of war. In accordance with this proposal, representatives of the nations that established Aid Societies held meetings in Paris in 1867 and in Berlin in 1869. The humanitarian decisions taken at the meetings were announced to all the nations of the world. The Ottoman Empire also joined this aid organization in 1865. By June 11, 1868, the preparations for the organization’s establishment were completed, and an association was founded in Istanbul under the name “Osmanlı Mecruhin-i Askerîye ve Muavenet Cemiyeti,” meaning the “Ottoman Society for the Aid of Wounded Soldiers.” This association was renamed “Osmanlı Hilâli-ahmer Cemiyeti” (Ottoman Red Crescent Society) on April 14, 1877, and then “Türkiye Kızılay Derneği” (Turkish Red Crescent Society) in 1935. On September 13, 1925, the headquarters of the association was moved from Istanbul to Ankara. There is a square in front of the Turkish Red Crescent Society General Headquarters building in Ankara. It is called “Kızılay Square.”

Initially established solely for the purpose of aiding war victims, the Red Cross, Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun Societies later aimed to protect those affected by disasters such as earthquakes, floods, epidemics, and fires. The Turkish Red Crescent Society has been beside and assisting our nation and all nations worldwide in their days of calamity for 106 years.

The Red Crescent Society is organized across the country with its bodies such as the General Assembly, the General Headquarters Executive Board, and the Board of Auditors, along with its 646 branches in provinces and districts. Kızılay is a national organization that extends a helping hand to those in need regardless of religion, race, or language, and carries out educational activities through various camps and courses it establishes.

Every student who is a member of the Red Crescent Branch in our schools helps by purchasing a “Kızılay Stamp” with the money saved from their pocket money. Aid given to Kızılay turns into food, shelter, medicine, and blood for people during days of disaster. Kızılay serves all of humanity, as well as our nation. For this reason, the period “between October 29 and November 4” is celebrated as “Red Crescent Week” in our country and in all our schools.