TİKA to Keep on Touching the Hearts of People from All Around the World in Ramadan with the "Erenler Sofrası"

TİKA President Serkan Kayalar made a statement to the AA reporter on the Ramadan programs that will be carried out under the name of "Erenler Sofrası ".

Ramadan, the month of mercy and fruitfulness, has a special meaning for us as the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), just like the rest of the Islamic world. We are delighted to extend the helping hand of our country to needy people all around the world in the month of Ramadan, which is the time for solidarity and sharing.

The Presidency of Turkey has issued decrees, declaring the year of 2021 as “Yunus Emre and Turkish Language Year” and “Haji Bektash Veli Year”. It has been decided that the activities which will be carried out within this context will be coordinated by our Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Accordingly, consultation meetings have been held, led by our Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. Thanks to the guidance of our Minister, we created a new concept this year by bringing together the projects and activities, which we carry out each year in the month of Ramadan, under the name of Erenler Sofrası, inspired by our values which we consider to be the heart of Anatolia.

Our Anatolian Erens are the cultural heart and soul of our geography of affection, exceeding all kinds of borders. With the Ramadan programs, which will be carried out under the name of Erenler Sofrası, we will convey a meaningful message from the heart of the Turkish people to the entire world.

We will deliver our aid packages to hundreds of thousands of people thanks to the Erenler Sofrası program

We plan to send this year's Ramadan aid packages, which will be organized under the name of Erenler Sofrası, to hundreds of thousands of people from 87 countries by keeping the pandemic conditions in mind. Thanks to our Erenler Sofrası program, we will send the regards of Yunus, Haji Bektash and Ahi Evran from Anatolia to all around the world without discriminating any language, religion or race. While we send our aid packages to needy people, we will also be promoting our cultural assets.

We will send aid packages from Turkey to 87 countries, such as Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Colombia, Azerbaijan, Somalia and Palestine. Instead of TİKA's traditional iftar programs, we will revise our aids this year according to the pandemic conditions, just as we did in 2020, and we will mostly carry them out as food distribution programs.

With our motto “One Heart”, we will share the plentifulness of Ramadan with the people in 5 continents.

Anatolian Erens will be commemorated at the dinner tables set by TİKA, and their legacy will keep on showing us the right way even centuries later. The hospitality and humility of Anatolia will be extended to our entire geographical activity area from Africa to Asia and from the Balkans to Latin America. Turkey will keep on acting as a role model for the rest of the world thanks to our culture of helping and sharing which is a legacy from our history.

I'd like to take this opportunity to extend best wishes for our country, the Islamic world and the humanity in the month of Ramadan.