Turkish relief agency sends aid to Idlib, Syria

ISTANBUL

A Turkish relief agency dispatched 10 truckloads of humanitarian aid to Syrians in the war-stricken Idlib province on Tuesday.

Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) organized the aid campaign contributed by a local Istanbul municipality, NGOs and charitable people.

“People in Idlib live in mud-drenched tents. The bombs are hitting children. There is no mercy. We must help and support these people and children,” the IHH chairman Bulent Yildirim said.

The IHH lends a helping hand to people regardless of their religion, language and ethnic background.

According to Mustafa Kalay, deputy head of the aid agency, the IHH delivered almost 2,400 truckloads of aid to the Syrians living in camps along the border in 2019.

Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN figures.

Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone laid out in a deal between Turkey and Russia in late 2018. The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the territory, where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

The de-escalation zone is currently home to about 4 million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces throughout the war-torn country.

*Writing by Burak Dag