Turkey mobilizes to send aid to war-battered Syrians

ISTANBUL

Turkish aid campaigns were in full swing Wednesday to support the war-battered residents of Aleppo, with dozens of vehicles ferrying humanitarian supplies to the Syrian border.

The Open Road to Aleppo campaign saw dozens of vehicles organized by Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) join a convoy in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri.

Departing Wednesday, convoys will go to the Turkish border province of Hatay, close to the devastated Syrian city of Aleppo.

A first group of vehicles started its journey on Dec. 14, carrying humanitarian aid to the Cilvegozu Border Gate in Hatay, Turkey.

The Association of Anatolia’s Seljuk Civilization in the eastern city of Malatya sent two vehicles loaded with humanitarian aid to Aleppo.

The Black Sea city of Samsun’s Ilkadim district Municipality and the local Hayrat Foundation collaborated to send two vehicles full of coal for civilians in Aleppo.

From Turkey’s central provinces of Aksaray and Karaman, a vehicle and a truck were sent to Hatay’s Reyhanli district, said Sariveliler Mayor Hayri Samur from Karaman.

“Everyone must do what they can to ease the humanitarian plight in Aleppo,” Samur said.

Meanwhile, another 10-truck convoy from Turkey’s central province of Konya is also headed to Syria’s Idlib province.

The aid included beds in four vehicles, food, and flour.

Another seven-truck convoy carrying tons of foodstuffs is on the road to Azaz and Aleppo from Turkey’s central province of Eskisehir.

The Eskisehir Governorship and Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency Provincial Directorates collaborated for the campaign “Be Hope for the Syrian Oppressed”.

In the central province of Nevsehir, the Education Ministry and various educational institutions pooled their efforts to send five vehicles carrying 135 tons of flour to the Cilvegozu Border Gate.

At least 7,500 civilians have so far left eastern Aleppo for safe areas in Idlib, according to Syrian opposition group officials.

Since mid-November, more than 775 civilians have been killed and 2,500 injured in regime attacks on opposition-held parts of Aleppo, according to local civil defense officials.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.