Turkish aid group to distribute Bosnian aid to Rohingya

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Turkey's state-run aid agency on Thursday signed an agreement with Bosnia's Islamic Union to distribute €250,000 ($295,000) of financial aid collected for Rohingya Muslims.

The protocol was signed at the Islamic Union's building in Bosnia's capital, Sarajevo.

A ceremony led by the president of the Islamic Union Husein Kavazovic was attended by Turkey's Ambassador to Sarajevo, Haldun Koc, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) Sarajevo Coordinator Omer Faruk Alici and Chairman of the Rohingya People's Support Committee Ethem Bicakcic.

Kavazovic in his speech thanked TIKA for providing assistance to the Rohingya people.

"Of course, the help of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be compared with Turkey, but the committee has done important work to be the voice of Arakanese Muslims. We will continue with the aid campaigns we conduct together with Turkey," Kavazovic said.

Ambassador Koc said TIKA is carrying out intensive activities in the field.

"Turkey became the first country in the field to show our siblings that we are on their side. TIKA provided 55 million tons of foodstuffs, two ambulances, 10,000 blankets, security cameras, children's parks, tents for 100 families and eight water wells to the Arakanese Muslims," Koc said.

Koc also said in the coming period 50 deep water wells and a hospital will be built.

The financial aid was collected by the committee formed on an initiative of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Islamic Union in order to help Rohingya Muslims.

More than 646,000 refugees have fled the region since Aug. 25 in the wake of a brutal military crackdown.

During the crackdown, security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women, and children, looted homes, and torched Rohingya villages, according to refugee accounts.

Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

Following a similar military crackdown launched in October last year, the UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances committed by security personnel.

UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.