Whilst touching the hearts of people with the success achieved in national and international operations, Kizilay continues to undergo its process of renewal. By opening a branch at a university, Kizilay added another “first” to its history of 138 years. Thousands of students took part in the celebrations at the opening of the branch at one of the largest universities in Turkey; METU (Middle East Technical University).

World famous British rock group Starsailor and Turkish rock group Mavi Sakal, whose songs are among the most favoured by Turkish youth, caputured the attention of the crowd of students who sang along with the groups, at the concert held on 28th May at METU’s stadium.

At the opening of the Kizilay METU branch, Kizilay’s President Tekin Küçükali stressed the fact that this was the first time Kizilay had ever realised such a project by announcing; “ Dear youth, Kizilay has realised this event with your support. We shall carry it out with pleasure and we believe that this will be pursued in other universities.”

Prof. Ural Akbulut, the Rektor of METU, added that METU itself had also put into implementation many “firsts” and how pleased they were that Kizilay had opened a branch at the university. He then went on to thank the President of Kizilay for opening the branch and organising
the activities.
During the concert, Kizilay staff where on stand-by in the tents that they had erected for receiving blood donations. In addition to this, Kizilay memorabilia such as t-shirts and mugs were sold in return for donations to Kizilay.

The festivities which continued late into the night, were thoroughly enjoyed by those attending. The income derived from the Concert shall be transfered to the METU Branch and the METU Bursary Fund.