IHH (Turkish NGO)

Not to be confused with the outlawed German association Internationale Humanitäre Hilfsorganisation e.V. or the Netherlands-based Internationale Humanitaire Hulporganisatie Nederland.
İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri İnsani Yardım Vakfı – İHH
Founded 1995
Type NGO
Location
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım
Revenue
 150.7 million TRL (2011)[1]
Website ihh.org.tr in English

IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation[2] (Turkish: İHH İnsani Yardım Vakfı; full Turkish name: İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı,[3] in English: The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief) or İHH is a Turkish NGO, whose members are predominantly Turkish Muslims, active in more than 100 countries.[4]

Established in 1992 and officially registered in Istanbul in 1995, İHH provides humanitarian relief in areas of war, earthquake, hunger, and conflict.[5] The İHH holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2004[6][7] Current president of the İHH is Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım.

The İHH was owner and operator of three flotilla ships involved in an aid convoy intended to breach the blockade of Gaza in 2010. These ships included the MV Mavi Marmara, a passenger vessel that served as the flagship of the convoy.[8][9] Nine passengers, many of them members or volunteers for the İHH,[10] aboard the Mavi Marmara were killed in a clash between the armed volunteers and the Israeli forces that raided the vessel as it was on its way to Gaza.[11][12][13][14]

Background

The Istanbul-based Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) is an Islamic charity group that was formed to provide aid to Bosnian Muslims in the mid-1990s. It has been involved in aid missions in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Indonesia, Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Somalia, Ghana, Mongolia, China, Brazil, Argentina and other places.[15]

The organization is active in Turkey, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, Central Asia, South Asia, and the Caucasus.[16] İHH has held Special Consultative status as an NGO (non-governmental organization) in the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2004.[6][7] İHH is the organizer of Africa Cataract Project which aims to fight against blindness in Africa.

Mission and Trustees

The IHH aims to reach every region hit by wars, disasters, poverty and human rights abuses, and believes that civilian initiatives play a complementary role beside intervention by states and international organizations in resolving humanitarian problems. It is also their goal to deliver humanitarian aid to all people and take necessary steps to prevent any violations against their basic rights and liberties.[17]

These goals are achieved through the delivering of foodstuffs, clothes and tents to crisis regions hit by wars, conflicts, and natural disaster to meet urgent needs of victims. The foundation further provides health services in drought and aridity-stricken regions where poverty and deprivation have become chronic, and carries out long-term projects that aim at enabling local peoples stand on their own feet.[17] For those wanting to work with the organization, some emphasized activities include take active part in their activities, making donations or fund-raising, organizing seminars, and distributing posters.[18]

Trustees of the organization include:[19]

Memberships and recognition

The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief belongs to a number or organizations, including the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in the special consultative status, the Organization of Islamic Conference's (OIC) Humanitarian Forum, the Council of International Organizations for Relief in Iraq, the Union of Non-governmental Organizations of the Islamic World (UNIW), and the Turkish Foundation for Volunteer Organizations (TGTV). The group has also received the following recognitions:

Humanitarian activities

The İHH provides social aid, Muslim cultural aid, educational aid, sanitary aid, emergency aid programs in 120 countries.[21] It provides health care and water wells in Africa and runs the Africa Cataract Project, begun in 2007, in ten African countries. İHH has made it possible for thousands of people who are suffering from cataracts but who do not have the economic means to be treated to see again. İHH built 1174 water wells in Africa.[22] İHH sent two cargo planes to Haiti with 33 tons of humanitarian aid supplies after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[16]

In December 2007, Today's Zaman wrote that "various civil society organizations such as Kimse Yok Mu? (Is Anybody There?), Deniz Feneri (Lighthouse), the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) and Can Suyu assisted thousands of charitable donors in reaching out to poverty-stricken residents of the Kurdish-dominated eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey."[23]

World Bulletin wrote in August 2009 that hundreds of water wells were dug and fountains were built in an aid effort under the leadership of Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) across African countries.[24] Several Turkish nongovernmental organizations, such as Kimse Yok Mu? (Is anybody there?), the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) and Deniz Feneri (lighthouse), also provided aid to storm survivors in Bangladesh.[25]

İHH previously sent packages containing flour, legumes, oil and sugar to 350 families residing in Zewaya Dugda, one of the poorest regions in the Ethiopia. The UN announced that around 6 million children in Ethiopia faced risk of acute under-nutrition and urged countries to send aid.[26]

After the earthquake in Indonesia, Doctors Worldwide and The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) sent volunteers and aid to Indonesia.[27] İHH opened mosques, dug waterwells, distributed Qur'ans, organized iftars, aiding orphans and refugees in Darfur.[28]

In Gaza, the İHH is renovating the port, funding a Turkish-Palestinian school and plans to build a hospital and apartments for Gazans made homeless during the Gaza War.[29]

Collaboration with the United Nations

IHH has been involved with the United Nations in a number of ways. For example, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief attended the 44th Session of the Commission for Social Development and contributed to the panel discussion for the eradication of poverty. The group has attended other meetings, including:[17]

Refugees (UNHCR)

Africa Cataract Project

The project aims at performing 100.000 free cataract surgery operations in ten African countries: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad, Niger, Togo, Benin, Gana, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Volunteer Turkish surgeons and nurses take part in the project and travel to African countries for surgery. One of the objectives of the program is to offer free eye care for needy people. The Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency and Turkey's and Sudan's Ministries of Health are supporting the project. All surgeries are broadcast live on the project website and the IHH website.[30][31]

In 2011, IHH worked with Turkish aid groups like Kimse Yok Mu, the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) and Doctors Worldwide in Somalia. IHH aid reached a total of 376,777 people. Relief efforts, totaling TL 2,420,612, included food and medicine distributions, digging 70 water wells, health screenings, fitr (alms) donations and iftars (fast-breaking meals). With regards to its work in Somalia, one worker said that "the İHH already has been working in Somalia for the last 15 years in the fields of education and social and medical care. As for the food crisis, the activities will continue for at least another three years because the drought has spread and it sounds like it's not over. But as for other fields, the İHH is there and the activities will continue." He continued that "in order to help families of orphans to make a living and stand on their own two feet, we gave the families of 40 orphans sewing machines and cows, while we gave another 20 families sesame and flour milling machines. In addition, the İHH offered medical examinations to 400 orphans and treated 137 children with various diseases."[32]

Aid to Pakistan

In 2010, the ship Gazze set sail for Pakistan to deliver humanitarian aid to the people affected by floods in the country. The ship carried 3,000 tons of humanitarian supplies including, medicine, food, generators, clothes and tents.[33][34]

In 2011, IHH worked with the Khubaib Foundation to distribute relief goods amongst 500 flood stricken families in Lakki Marwat, a southern district of Pakistan. Some of the items included 270 containers which contained both food and non-food items. This was among clothes, shawls, footwear, and food items including rice, beans, canned food, power milk and children's cereal that were also distributed.[35]

Libyan civil war 2011

In response to the humanitarian situation during 2011 Libyan civil war, IHH sent a cargo ship carrying nine containers, 141 tons of humanitarian aid including medication, food packages, infant formula, milk powder, hygiene kits and clothing.[36][37] The ship set sail from Turkey and dropped anchor in Malta.

Xinjiang conference

The IHH worked with the Istanbul Peace Platform to host a conference focused on China's traditionally Turkic Muslim region of Xinjiang and which aimed to highlight the remote region's problems in the wake of July 2009 communal clashes. Official government sources said nearly 200 people were killed and 1,600 wounded in July 2009 riots in Xinjiang's capital, Ürümqi, in the worst ethnic unrest in China in decades. Beijing claimed the riots were orchestrated by overseas activists for the rights of Uighurs, historically Xinjiang's largest ethnic group. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called the violence in Xinjiang “a kind of genocide.”[38]

Response to 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami

The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation sent a rescue team of 5 to the Japan. IHH deputy chairman Yaşar Kutluay said "we sent our team to Japan which also went to Haiti due to the earthquake and to Pakistan due to the floods and lastly went to Tunisia and Libya due to the recent developments. Our team will contact with Japanese authorities to organize relief works. Our team will bring sonar system and search and rescue equipments."[39]

The IHH aid team conducted relief efforts in Sendai which was most heavily devastated by the earthquake and took relief to around 5.000 people. Güzel said Sendai has turned into a ghost city in the aftermath of the quake disaster and ensuing tsunami and it may take long years for Japan to recover from the aftereffects of the disaster. Güzel noted that the humanitarian crisis in Japan may deteriorate if international aid is not provided to the country.[40]

Freeing Czech tourists in Pakistan, March 2015

As reported on March 28, 2015, the IHH secured the release of two Czech tourists, Antonie Chrástecká and Hana Humpálová, following two months of intense negotiations. They were kidnapped near Taftan, Pakistan, by an al Qaeda-linked armed group on March 13, 2013, while travelling overland from Europe to India.[41]

IHH and the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid

Mavi Marmara with Turkish and Palestinian flags, campaign banner, and the text "This is a humanitarian aid ship" in Turkish, English, Arabic, and Hebrew.
Main article: Gaza flotilla raid

In January 2010, the Free Gaza Movement and İHH announced a joint venture to send ten vessels to the Gaza strip in the spring of 2010, a flotilla to be further joined by organizations from Greece, Ireland and Sweden.[42]

On 30 May 2010, a flotilla of six ships carrying 663 activists from 37 nations rendezvoused near Cyprus and set sail for Gaza.[43][44] The stated intention of the Gaza flotilla, like for earlier flotillas organized by the Free Gaza Movement, was to break through Israel's blockade of the Gaza strip and to deliver humanitarian supplies.[45][46] The İHH spent more than $2 million on the ships.[47] İHH activists were set apart from other activists involved in the mission by a willingness to resist Israeli forces.[10]

On 31 May 2010, after the IHH refused that the IDF will check the ship's cargo in Ashdod port, Israeli forces intercepted the fleet in the international waters. On the MV Mavi Marmara, one of the ships owned and operated by the İHH, clashes broke out. In the clashes, nine activists were killed (Eight Turkish nationals and a Turkish-American), and dozens of activists and seven Israeli commandos were wounded. On three other ships, activists showed passive resistance, which was suppressed by Israeli forces without deaths or injuries, and two others were taken without incident. The activists were subsequently arrested and detained in Israel before being deported. Widespread international condemnation of the raid followed, Israel-Turkey relations were strained, Israel subsequently eased its blockade of the Gaza strip, and Egypt lifted its blockade, opening its Rafah Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip.[48]

On 18 June 2010, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs released video footage of a rally on board the Mavi Marmara the day before the raid in which the İHH President Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım declared to dozens of activists: "And we say: 'If you [Israel] send the commandos, we will throw you down from here to the sea and you will be humiliated in front of the whole world'", as participating passengers chant "millions of martyrs marching to Gaza!"[49]

In September 2011, a United Nations report, after analysis of both Turkey and Israeli national investigations, concluded that the Israeli blockade was legal, but that Israel army used excessive force in this incident. The report also mentioned "serious questions about the conduct, true nature and objectives of the flotilla organizers, particularly IHH."[UN Palmer Report 2011, p. 4.]

İHH abstained from the 2011 flotilla, citing outstanding damage to the Mavi Marmara.

In September 2011, Istanbul Deputy Public Prosecutor Ates Shasan Sozen told the Turkish daily Today's Zaman that the IHH identified and submitted a list of 174 IDF soldiers to the Prosecutor's Office.[50][51]

Post-flotilla perceptions of IHH's affiliations

The flotilla event generated mixed perceptions of IHH. The group was described as a humanitarian[52][53][54] group and as a charity following the flotilla event;[55][56] however, the group was also challenged for alleged affiliations with organizations such as Hamas.[57] Critics charged the allegations arose after the raid simply because of the scale of the political fallout from the raid.[58] IHH maintained that the best way to judge it was its behavior and responded that "we collected US$1 million (Dh3.7m) for victims of the Haiti earthquake, and we delivered our aid in a church there." Other IHH officials said the organisation is opposed to violence and relies on donations from the Turkish public, up to 80 per cent of which come from poor families.[58]

Some of the allegations included that IHH has been banned in Germany, that IHH has raised funds for jihadi fighters in Bosnia, Chechnya, and Afghanistan, that French intelligence has documented calls between the group and an Al Qaeda boarding house in Milan, Italy, as well as Algerian militants in Europe, and that IHH reportedly played an "important role" in the Millennium bomb plot against LAX airport, Los Angeles.[59]

That IHH was banned in Germany later turned out to be a mixup between the Turkish İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri and the banned German Internationale Humanitäre Hilfsorganisation e.V.. The U.S. government said it "cannot validate" any relationship or connection between İHH and al-Qaida.[60] Turkish authorities made no further efforts after the raid regarding support for Bosnian, Chechen and Afghan fighters[58] and IHH replied that there was an acquittal in the court case and nothing ever came of the charges.[61] Testimony regarding IHH and the Millennium bomb plot was thrown out in court by a judge because it would "necessarily be based upon hearsay".[62]

Status in Western nations

Response from IHH

An IHH board member responded in the Los Angeles Times that IHH provides charity in more than 100 countries. He stated there was no proof that IHH has any connections to Al Qaeda or its affiliates, and also said that its involvement with Bosnia and Chechnya amounted to food, clothes and medicine. Those who "accuse us of terrorism are the very people who kill innocent victims," said Ali Cihangir, an IHH board member, referring to the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara that left nine Turkish activists dead. "There are political reasons countries are saying this about us."[72]

Involvement with Muslim Brotherhood and Syria

According to The Times, a Free Syrian Army commander said that a boat carrying weapons docked in Syria in September 2012 and "was registered to members of the IHH, which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood". Samar Srewel, an FSA activist who had helped to organize the consignment, told The Times: “It was clear from that second what was happening. The Muslim Brotherhood, through its ties in Turkey, was seizing control of this ship and the cargo. This is what they do. They buy influence with their money and guns.”[73][74]

Turkish Police Raid

Anadolu Agency reported that two employees of IHH, were detained for alleged links to al-Qaida, in a Turkish anti-terrorism police raids on 13 January 2014. IHH spokesman said that police searched its office in Kilis, near the border with Syria, and detained one of its employees. Another IHH employee was detained in Kayseri after a police raid at his home.[75]

References

  1. ↑ "Gelir-Gider". Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  2. ↑ "IHH Statement Regarding The Israeli Report". IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation continues to insist on its request for an international probe to independently investigate the Israeli attack on Mavi Marmara.
  3. ↑ The organization regularly gives its name as İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri İnsani Yardım Vakfı, but the full version in which the Turkish word ve ("and") appears twice is the foundation's name as given in Article 1 of its act of establishment: "'Vakıf Kuruluş Senedi'" (in Turkish). ihh.org.tr.
  4. ↑ "Profile: Free Gaza Movement". BBC News. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  5. ↑ Richard Spencer (31 May 2010). "Gaza flotilla: the Free Gaza Movement and the İHH". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, The". NGO Branch, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "List of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council as of 1 September 2009" (PDF). United Nations Economic and Social Council. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  8. ↑ Slackman, Michael (3 June 2010). "In Bid to Quell Anger Over Raid, Israel Frees Detainees". The New York Times (Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.). Retrieved 3 June 2010.
  9. ↑ Reynolds, Paul (2 June 2010). "Israeli convoy raid: What went wrong?". BBC News. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Champion, Marc (4 June 2010). "Turkish Charity Group Sounds Defiant Note". The Wall Street Journal.
  11. ↑ Edmund Sanders (1 June 2010). "Israel criticized over raid on Gaza flotilla". Los Angeles Times (Eddy Hartenstein). Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  12. ↑ Al Jazeera staff and agencies (30 May 2010). "Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  13. ↑ "Israeli assault on Gaza-bound flotilla leaves at least 9 dead". CNN. 30 May 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  14. ↑ Al Jazeera staff and agencies (5 June 2010). "Flotilla activists 'shot 30 times'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  15. ↑ Villelabeitia, Ibon (31 May 2010). "Factbox: Turkish charity group behind Gaza-bound convoy". Thomson Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "(website in Turkish)". Insani Yardim Vakfi. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 ODS Team. "United Nations Economic and Social Council Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations: Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief" (PDF). Daccess-dds-ny.un.org.
  18. ↑ "''Charity Vault'': IHH – Humanitarian Relief Foundation Volunteer Information". Charity-charities.org.
  19. ↑ IHH: Trustees
  20. ↑ Mother Helpage Worldwide: IHH Turkey
  21. ↑ "We started from Bosnia and reached 120 countries". Ihh.org.tr. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  22. ↑ "İHH Afrika'ya 392 su kuyusu açtı!". ihlas.net.tr. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  23. ↑ Eid helps boost unity in Turkey
  24. ↑ "Turkey's İHH completes water well projects across Africa before Ramadan". Worldbulletin.net.
  25. ↑ Turkish NGOs lend helping hand to Bangladesh
  26. ↑ "Turkish Charity Foundation Sends Aid To Ethiopian Families Against Famine". Turkishpress.com. 11 August 2008.
  27. ↑ Turkish charity foundations to help Indonesia
  28. ↑ "Turkey's İHH conducts series of Ramadan aids in Sudan's Darfur". Worldbulletin.net. 30 June 2013.
  29. ↑ Diaa Hadid (3 June 2010). "Turkish group behind flotilla is Gaza's new hero". Associated Press. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  30. ↑ "Afrika katarakt projesi". Hürriyet. 6 January 1990.
  31. ↑ "Siz gördükçe, Sudanlılar da görüyor". ZAMAN.
  32. ↑ "''Hirraan'': Turkish charities in Somalia for long haul". Hiiraan.org. 2 October 2011.
  33. ↑ "Gazze gemisi Pakistan'a gidiyor – 02.09.2010 – Gundem – Yeni Şafak". Yenisafak.com.tr. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  34. ↑ "PressTV – Flotilla ship to deliver aid to Pakistan". Press TV. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  35. ↑ Khubaib Foundation: Relief goods given to 500 families In Lakki Marwat
  36. ↑ "OCHA on Libya's refugees covering the period of 10 to 12 April" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  37. ↑ "IHH sends humanitarian aid ship to Libya". Ihh.org.tr. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  38. ↑ "''Hurriyet'': Conference aims to bring Xinjiang woes to forefront". Hürriyet Daily News.
  39. ↑ IHH: http://www.ihh.org.tr/ihh-ekipleri-japonya-ya-gitti/en/
  40. ↑ IHH: http://www.ihh.org.tr/ekiplerimiz-japonya-dan-dondu/en/
  41. ↑ "Turkish charity rescues 2 Czech women taken by al Qaeda in 2013".
  42. ↑ "Our Last Port Is Freedom: Sending a Flotilla in the Spring to Break the Siege of Gaza" (Press release). Free Gaza Movement. 28 January 2010.
  43. ↑ Tia Goldenberg (31 May 2010). "Pro-Palestinian aid flotilla sets sail for Gaza". U-T San Diego. Associated Press. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  44. ↑ Kosharek, Noah; Kyzer, Liel; Ravid, Barak. "Israel transfers hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists to airport for deportation". Haaretz. Schocken Family.
  45. ↑ Black, Ian; Siddique, Haroon (31 May 2010). "Q&A: The Gaza Freedom flotilla". The Guardian (London).
  46. ↑ Lynch, Colum (1 June 2010). "Israel's flotilla raid revives questions of international law". The Washington Post (Katharine Weymouth).
  47. ↑ "Turkey to Challenge Israel, Support Hamas – Defense/Middle East – Israel News". Arutz Sheva.
  48. ↑ Macdonald, Alastair (1 June 2010). "Egypt opens Gaza border after Israel ship clash". Thomson Reuters. Reuters.
  49. ↑ "VIDEO / IHH leader tells Gaza flotilla activists to 'throw IDF soldiers into the sea'". Haaretz. 18 June 2010.
  50. ↑ "Prosecutor: Facebook flotilla attackers list drawn up by İHH". Today's Zaman. 26 September 2011.
  51. ↑ "Report: IHH, not Turkish intelligence gathered IDF names". The Jerusalem Post. 26 September 2011.
  52. ↑ "Turkish Aid Group Says It's Not Tied To Terrorists". NPR. 7 June 2010.
  53. ↑ Cihan: Turkish Premier Says Hamas not a Terrorist Organization
  54. ↑ "Israeli commandos storm aid flotilla; 9 killed". The Guardian (London). 23 January 2008.
  55. ↑ "Factbox: Turkish charity group behind Gaza-bound convoy". Reuters. 1 June 2010.
  56. ↑ "Hurriyet: Seeking peace, planting hatred". Hürriyet Daily News.
  57. ↑ "Turkey's Radical Drift". The Wall Street Journal, 3 June 2010.
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 Thomas Seibert. "''The National'': Controversial charity responds to critics". Thenational.ae.
  59. ↑ Iason Athanasiadis (1 June 2010). "Targeted by Israeli raid: Who is the IHH?".
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 60.2 "State Department Briefing by Phillip J. Crowley". 3 June 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  61. ↑ "''Hurriyet'': Turkish humanitarian group on Gaza ship denies accusations against them". Hürriyet Daily News.
  62. ↑ "United States District Court: United Of States Of America Versus Ahmed Ressam, Aka Benni Norris" (PDF). The Seattle Times.
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 cs – čeština (2 February 2011). "Europsky parlament: Parliamentary questions". European Parliament.
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Weinthal, Benjamin (28 July 2010). "Italian lawmakers: Put IHH on EU terrorist list". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  65. ↑ "Targeted by Israeli raid: Who is the IHH?". The Christian Science Monitor. 1 June 2010.
  66. ↑ "Israel adds IHH to terror watch list". Haaretz. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  67. ↑ ABC News: Targeted by Israeli raid: Who is the IHH?
    In 2008, Israel became the only country to ban the organization, doing so out of concern about its alleged sympathies with Hamas.
  68. ↑ "United Nations: Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident" (PDF).
  69. ↑ 69.0 69.1 US may list Turkish IHH as terror group, Jerusalem Post 15 July 2010
  70. ↑ Congressional Research Service, 23 June 2010: CRS Report for Congress: Israel’s Blockade of Gaza, the Mavi Marmara Incident, and Its Aftermath
  71. ↑ "''Hurriyet'': Terror listing for İHH Turkey 'counterproductive,' US think tank says". Hürriyet Daily News.
  72. ↑ Fleishman, Jeffrey (6 June 2010). "Turkish charity defends actions". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  73. ↑ Frenkel, Sheera (14 September 2012). "Brotherhood 'buying influence with arms'". The Times. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  74. ↑ Radice, Orlando (14 September 2012). "Flotilla group linked to Syria gun-running". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  75. ↑ "Turkish police detain al-Qaida suspects". WashingtonPost. 14 January 2014. Retrieved date=14 January 2014. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

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