Turkey a leading country in humanitarian aid: Deputy PM

Turkey is a leading country in providing humanitarian assistance to the needy across the world, Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdağ said on Aug. 19.

"Today, everyone knows that Turkey is the leading country in humanitarian aid works," he said during an event in Ankara, recalling the country's effort to help over 3 million refugees on its soil as well as various humanitarian endeavors worldwide.

According to the Development Initiative's (DI) Global Humanitarian Assistance Report released in June, Turkey came in second after the U.S. among countries that contributed the most humanitarian aid in 2016.        
Apart from financial aid, Turkey and Turkish charities provide food, health and education to people in several countries, including Somalia, Syria, Bangladesh and Uganda.

Turkey contributed $6 billion in humanitarian aid in 2016 while the U.S. contributed $6.3 billion, DI data showed.        

Turkey ranks first when national incomes are taken into account. The country's gross national income was $857 billion in 2016, while in the U.S. it was $18.7 trillion.

Turkey's humanitarian aid in 2015 amounted to $3.2 billion. In 2016, this figure had increased by 115 percent to reach $6 billion.        

Turkey had been ranked third place in the DI report for years 2013, 2014 and 2015, but it came second in 2016.
        
 "Ongoing and new crises left an estimated 164.2 million people in 47 countries in need of international humanitarian assistance in 2016," the report said.
        
The report also showed that the humanitarian aid collected in 2016 across the world totaled $27.3 billion, which met only 40 percent of all requirements.
        
DI is an independent international development...