Turkish Airlines pledges commitment to Somalia as campaign raises $1.8m

A social media campaign supported by Turkish Airlines has succeeded in raising $1.8 million USD from 66,000 donors in just three days for the people of Somalia who are facing hunger and drought. Turkish Airlines responded to the humanitarian aid campaign which began on social media and called on the carrier – as the only […]

A social media campaign supported by Turkish Airlines has succeeded in raising $1.8 million USD from 66,000 donors in just three days for the people of Somalia who are facing hunger and drought.

Turkish Airlines responded to the humanitarian aid campaign which began on social media and called on the carrier – as the only airline that flies to Somalia – to use its global network to help the people of Somalia.

It was learnt that Jerome Jarre, a French social media activist with 1.3 million followers on Twitter, drew attention to the hunger and drought in Somalia with his video which was viewed 2.5 million times, calling for its help with the hashtag #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia, on Wednesday, March 15.

The airline said in a statement made available to our correspondent in Lagos that following this call for action, high-profile Twitter accounts including Hollywood star Ben Stiller added their voices to the call for Turkish Airlines to support this campaign.

It said, “The #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia campaign was immediately noticed and followed closely by our Directorate and within the hour we had contacted Jerome by telephone. Turkish Airlines has worked with the popular French YouTuber in previous years on past digital projects.

“After responding that Turkish Airlines would like to answer their call quickly, Jerome and five friends from New York created content with the hashtag #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia, and then #LoveArmyforSomalia.

“The team of six had a network of more than 10 million followers and a primary purpose to raise social awareness globally, with their supporters snowballing in a few daysto generate 1.3 billion potential views around the world”.

Following these developments, Turkish Airlines said it got involved in the project with its post “We love Somalia. We got the call for this meaningful flight” last week on its local and global Twitter accounts.

The airline added that it however granted official consent for carriage of 200-tonnes of aids throughout six months, and transportation of the first 60-tonnes aid by a cargo flight dedicated to the campaign.

In response to the airline’s show of concern, the social media stars launched a financial support campaign on "gofundme.com" to raise funds for the basic needs.

“Reaching millions of people in just a few days, this humanitarian aid campaign will undoubtedly provide contributions to Somalia”, the airline said.