HUMANITY MUST LIVE
Our focus in this article is CANSUYU Aid and Solidarity Association, a NGO founded in Turkey. President of the association (a former Turkish parliament member), Mr. Mustafa Köylü began our conversation with a sincere reproach: “Humans die, new ones are born. But if humanity dies, a new one can’t be born. Injustice, cruelty, exploitation and murders would rule us. Nobody would show mercy. The powerful would win, the powerless would be oppressed. Wars, blood and tears would become ordinary.” CANSUYU Association is both an original and an interesting association in terms of its structure, administration, broad staff of volunteers and aid transportation methods. CANSUYU operates and organizes its activities on the donations. It does not receive support from the government, but does involve in cooperative projects with government organizations. The association has a wide volunteer base enough to get organized all over Turkey in one day.
It does humanitarian aid works in several countries. It bears the expenses of thousands of orphans. It protects and looks after disaster victims and refugees. It builds schools, mosques, orphanages, residents and healthcare units. Mainly in Africa, it opened around 1,700 water wells, so far. The association transports its aid to the suffered and the poor with its own personnel, without leaving them to governments or organizations. It provides information about the usage of donations given to the association. CANSUYU has supplied over $50 million aid for those who need, so far.
President of CANSUYU Association, Mr. Mustafa Köylü summarized the aid mentality of the association in two sentences. We try to reach those who need most. Our motto symbolizes that: ”CANSUYU will get you to those who need most”. We never give food that we wouldn’t eat or clothing that we wouldn’t wear to people in need of these, because we believe that a human being is the most dignified creature. CANSUYU Association has accomplished great successes, setting out with a modest staff. It is possible to see this when the members of the association meet with the
people in need. Especially the water wells opened in Africa and campaigns committed to orphans are very impressive…
The Ottoman state ruled the Islamic world for nearly eight centuries, during which it was able to establish a great empire in Asia, Africa and parts of Europe. The Ottoman state included most of the Arab countries foremost among which were Egypt, the Levant and Hijaz. Egypt remained under the Ottoman sovereignty for four centuries from 1517 until 1923.The Arab states, led by Egypt, were heavily influenced by the Turkish Ottoman state in many respects. Customs, traditions and civilizations were shared between the Arab and Ottoman societies, and Turkey had customs and traditions borrowed from Egypt and the Levant, likewise; Egyptians and Arabs had customs and traditions borrowed from the Ottoman rule. Arab countries were affected by the Islamic Ottoman style in mosque building. At the beginning of the Ottoman conquest of Egypt and the Levant, the Arabs were influenced by the Ottoman architectural style. Mohamed Ali Mosque was built in Cairo with its ultiple minarets and domes. It was designed by the Ottoman architect Sinan to simulate the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul. Moreover, mosque Bey Muhammad Moradi was built in Tunisia and mosque Sheikh Ahmed Chtioui was built in Libya according to the Ottoman layout. The Ottomans had good customs and traditions and some Arab countries are still keen on some of them so far, including; Serving water with coffee when entertaining guests. The mystery of this habit returns to that in +the event the guest was not hungry, he would extend his hand for the coffee, but in case he chooses water, the homeowner understands that the guest is hungry and prepares food for him. With this, the owner of the house would feed his guest without any embarrassment. The Egyptians and the Syrians have started serving water with coffee for guests. It also spread in the Ottoman era that there were two knockers on the doors of houses, a small one
and a big one. It was present in Egypt as a habit inherited from the Ottomans. When the door was knocked with the small knocker, it was understood that the one knocking was a “woman”, so the lady of the house usually went to open the door. However, when the knock on the door was done with the big knocker, it was understood that it was a “man” , so a man went to open the door. We cannot talk about Ramadan in the Ottoman era without mentioning the Ramadan cannon oped by the Ottoman Empire to declare the advent of the holy month and to mark the timing of breakfast and fasting. With Egypt being for a long time under the Ottoman rule, there are similar dishes between the Turkish and the Egyptian cuisines holding the same name but with different taste. The Turkish cuisine has a long history and was influenced over time with Kurd, Persian, Indian, Arab and Armenian cuisines. That was the natural result of the emergence of the Ottoman Empire and its control over many countries in the eastern side of the Mediterranean region for about 500 years. The most renowned Turkish dishes comprised in the Egyptian cuisine are kebab, meatballs, Circassian, Alchukhukh, Shawerma, kubba, baba ghanoush. While the most famous pastries are primarily baklava, Kunafa and basbousa. Stuffed grape leaves or “yaberq”, is one of the dishes that was taken by the Arabs from the Turks during the Ottoman rule around 1300 BC. The word “Yabreq” means in Turkish “grape leaves”, and with the passage of time this dish was known in many countries and has become a famous dish in Levant, Egypt , Iraq, Turkey, the Balkans and the Caucasus. “Yabreq” is stuffed grape leaves with rice, minced meat, flavors and spices, while “Yalnji” is a dish made of grape leaves without meat. The origin of this name is taken from the Turkish word meaning “a liar” as a sign of its being void of meat. The Turks boast possessing historical right to baklava, and see it as one of the most popular dishes they passed down to other peoples of world, especially Egypt and the Levant. The fact that the history of baklava in its primitive form dates back to the Assyrians, who made it of dough chips stuffed dried fruits, and they served it stuffed with nuts. It was later took by the Turks during the eras of the Ottoman Empire and they developed it into more than 20 types. Concerning its name, one of the stories reports that the Ottoman Sultan “Abdul Hamid” had a cook whose name was (lawa). Lawa made this kind of pastry and when the Sultan tasted it for the first time, he told a guest he had: (Bak Lawa ne baydi) which means look what Lawa has made.
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