Taekwondo humanitarian work reaches refugee camp in Turkey

World Taekwondo Federation President Choue Chung-won, third from left, is seen with taekwondo officials who visited the Oncupinar Accommodation Center in Kilis, Turkey, Friday. The center serves as a camp for refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war. / Courtesy of World Taekwondo Federation

By Nam Hyun-woo

The Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF) project will expand its reach to a refugee camp in Turkey as part of its effort to spread hope and joy around the world, the World Taekwondo Federation said Sunday.

The decision came amid the federation’s President Choue Chung-won’s visit on Friday to the Kilis Oncupinar Accommodation Center in Turkey’s border area with Syria. The facility is a camp for over 25,000 refugees who have fled the Syrian civil war.

The Turkish Taekwondo Federation has been operating a taekwondo program for refugees at the camp for the past two years. There are currently 60 participants learning taekwondo.

Before attending the 2016 Rio Games European Qualification Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey’s capital, on Jan. 16-17, Choue visited the camp along with European Taekwondo Union President Sakis Pragalos and Turkish Taekwondo Federation President Metin Sahin and said the federation will open a THF Taekwondo Academy.

“The Turkish Taekwondo Federation has been doing a fantastic job with its taekwondo program in Kilis and working with them we will ensure that it has all the materials and instructors required,” Choue said. “We will continue to work hard to develop the THF around the world and contribute to global sustainable development.”

The federation said it has presented new taekwondo uniforms and shoes to the young refugees aged between 10 and 14 who demonstrated during the visit the taekwondo techniques they have learned.

The THF is the federation’s fresh initiative to promote peace and help refugees and displaced peoples through sport. The THF, which will be officially launched in Lausanne, Switzerland, in February, kicked off its first pilot project in the camps of Zaatari and Azraq in Jordan last December. It will launch its second pilot program in Nepal on Jan. 29.

The THF seeks to continue its projects in other refugee camps across the globe. It is currently considering camps in Ghana, Ethiopia, Colombia and Greece as the next locations for its taekwondo academies.