Turkey delivers food, sanitation aid to Balkan families

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Turkey’s state-run aid agency distributed food hampers and hygiene materials to thousands of vulnerable families and fasting Muslims in the Balkans to help recover the economic impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) distributed a Ramadan package to 835 irregular migrants at the Krnjaca Asylum Center in Serbia's capital Belgrade.

Visiting the camp, TIKA officials provided three tons of food aid to irregular migrants who are mostly from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Also, a total of 15 tons of food aid was provided to the vulnerable families across Serbia during the holy month of Ramadan.

Meanwhile, in Croatia, a total of 1,100 food aid packages were delivered to those in need in six separate regions of the country.

In Romania, TIKA, with its sports bags, cheered homeless children and youth who were the most affected by the quarantine process in fighting the virus.

The bags consisting of hygiene materials and sports clothes were donated to 181 orphans, disabled and needy children in dormitories under pandemic restrictions.

In Hungary, food and hygiene packages were provided to the country's Szentendre Elderly and Homeless Care Center.

TIKA, through different events, distributed 3,500 food aid packages across North Macedonia.

In Montenegro, a food and hygiene support program was launched to combat the outbreak. A total of 35 tons of food and hygiene materials were delivered to 5,000 people in the country.

Every year, TIKA organizes humanitarian aid projects in the Balkans during Ramadan as well as in the rest of its operation regions to help families in need.