TEHRAN – The Iranian Red Crescent Society and the Turkish Red Crescent inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expand cooperation on relief and medical services, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society met his Turkish counterpart Karam Kinik on the sidelines of the Conference of Humanitarian Leadership for the MENA Region held on Monday in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, ILNA reported.

The two officials reviewed the details of a cooperation agreement in the fields of relief, medicine, treatment, youth, and volunteers along with the deployment of joint teams to third countries such as Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria.

Kolivand also suggested that due to the common culture and events between the two countries, joint measures such as exchanging medical teams, sending medical teams and hospitals to international events, and exchanging experiences could be fields of cooperation.

Stating that it is planned to set up an “Education Town” to train all age groups to deal with accidents in a simulated manner, he called on Turkish Red Crescent to participate in the construction of the Education Town so that it can send its teams and volunteers to the training camp.

On Monday, the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Francesco Rocca, has appreciated the Iranian Red Crescent Society as one of the strongest communities in the world.

Stating that IFRC will support the IRCS’s programs, he announced readiness to strengthen the Iranian Red Crescent Society relations with other national communities because those communities can use Iran's experience and knowledge to deal with and prevent the incidents.

Established in 1922, IRCS operates as a humanitarian organization in the fields of rescue and relief in disasters, health, treatment, and rehabilitation, educating the public, youth, and volunteers, as well as the production of medicine and medical equipment.

In 2005, the IRCS received the Henry Davison Award for outstanding humanitarian services, and the IRCS initiative of volunteers was selected as the best project (out of 50 projects from 45 national societies), by the General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

FB/MG