Turkey: US delegation briefed on aid to Syrians

By Omer Tugrul Cam

HATAY, Turkey (AA) - The U.S. ambassador to the UN and its special envoy for Syria arrived in southern Turkey on Tuesday near the Syrian border to be briefed on international aid provided for Syrians fleeing attacks by Syrian regime-aligned forces.

Kelly Craft and James Jeffrey visited a logistics center in the district of Reyhanli in Hatay province. At the center which distributes UN aid to Syrians, Craft and Jeffrey were informed by UN humanitarian affairs chief Mark Lowcock on the latest developments on the ground.

They were accompanied by Turkey's UN envoy Feridun Sinirlioglu and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield.

Craft said U.S. President Donald Trump sent her to Hatay to observe the conditions and grievances of displaced people, adding that Washington would provide additional funding of $108 million for Syrians.

Asserting that the humanitarian crisis was the result of aggression by the Russian-backed Bashar al-Assad regime, she said the international community should pressure Moscow and Damascus for a cease-fire.

Craft voiced appreciation for Turkey's efforts regarding refugees and said Washington was aware of the burden that the Ankara has shouldered.

Lowcock, for his part, said Turkey was extremely generous to refugees and that humanitarian activities would not have been easy if not for Ankara's cooperation.

He said the UN had dispatched 50 trucks per day to Idlib city of northern Syria, and that they increased this figure to 100, adding that UN officials were in contact with Turkish authorities to send more.

Emphasizing that the majority of Syrians in need of relief were children and babies, he said the trucks carried items such as tents and food. Notably, he said only 9% of Syrians had so far been supplied with aid materials.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas