However, today the needy young men do not have to leave their hometowns as there is a foundation that dedicates itself to meeting the marriage expenses of couples in need.

    The Mehir Foundation, located in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, was established in 1996 by a group of businessmen and academics in the province to support young people who plan to marry but lack the financial means to do so. The foundation not only provides furniture and household appliances for the couples, but it also organizes their weddings, finds jobs for them and holds training seminars on how to achieve a successful marriage and family life.

“Our goal is to help young people in Turkey and the world who cannot marry due to financial problems. In addition to this, we train these young people about the importance of family life in order to help them build family unity,” said Mustafa Özdemir, chairman of the Mehir Foundation.

 The foundation, which takes its name from the Arabic word “mahr,” a compulsory part of an Islamic marriage contract -- a gift of money, possessions or property made by the husband to the wife -- has helped a total of 7,000 couples to make their marriage dreams come true since it was established.

 Applications from couples can be made through the foundation's Web site, www. mehir.org. Some personal information about the couple is requested, such as their level of education, job and financial situation, and then the Mehir Foundation deliberates on the couple's situation with the neighborhood heads (mukhtars) of their places of residence. The foundation will decide to assist the couple if it reaches the conclusion that they really need financial help.

 İsmail Ünal, a 30-year-old caregiver at a private hospital in Konya, who married in 2005 with the help of the Mehir Foundation, told Sunday's Zaman that if the foundation had not provided him with financial assistance, he and his future wife would have had to wait for a long time to marry because he had a big debt to pay off first. He expressed his gratitude to the institution and said he and his wife were still in touch with the foundation and participating in the seminars on family life that it organizes.

In explaining the importance the Mehir Foundation places on family life, Özdemir said the family is the nucleus of society and that it should be built on a strong foundation. “When deciding to marry, young people should focus more on realities rather than dreams, act with patience toward each other after marriage and see the good sides of each other rather than their shortcomings. Families should give more importance to the existence of humanitarian values in their sons-in-law and daughters-in-law rather than the existence of financial means. Opinion leaders should advise the public on these issues,” Özdemir said.

As for the financial resources of the foundation, he said they were supported by benevolent Turks who either donated money to the institution or bought furniture or household appliances for the couples.

There is no discrimination

Özdemir said there have been Armenian, Arab and Afghan couples in addition to Turks among the 7,000 couples who the foundation has helped to marry so far. “Since marriage is a humanitarian need, we help everyone who needs financial help to wed no matter what their religion or ethnicity,” he said.

He also said most of the couples the foundation helped had individual wedding ceremonies but that mass wedding ceremonies are also organized from time to time for the couples receiving help from the institution.

Transparent and respected

Sabah daily columnist Yavuz Donat paid a visit to the headquarters of the Mehir Foundation in Konya last week and wrote in one of his columns that there have never been any complaints about the foundation overshadowing its activities because it has won the respect and confidence of the public with transparency in all of its work.

 “Let's say you knock on the foundation's door and tell them that you would like to make a donation. The administration of the foundation tells you: ‘Let's introduce you to a couple who want to marry and you help them. If you want, you can buy a sofa or a refrigerator.' There are many people who would like to make a donation and many others who would like to marry. The storage rooms of the foundation are full. There are many wedding dresses in various sizes. The foundation will celebrate its 15th birthday this month. There has not been the least suspicion, complaint, gossip or rumor about the foundation so far. It gets full credit from the public for its transparency and reliability,” Donat wrote.