Turkish charity provides aid to Syrians fleeing Idlib

By Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - A Turkish charity distributed humanitarian aid to people of Syria’s Idlib, who escaped intense attacks by the regime and its allies and took shelter near the Turkish border.

The Bashar al-Assad regime continues intensified air and land attacks on civilian settlements in the northwestern Idlib de-escalation zone in Syria.

Selim Tosun, a representative of the Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), said at least 39,000 people have been displaced and marched toward Turkey's borders over the last 24 hours.

Tosun said they distributed 10,000 packages of aid that include canned food, water, cake, bread and juices.

He also stressed that the installation of tents and constructions of houses from briquettes for the displaced Syrian continued in the region.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

But more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces in the de-escalation zone since then as the cease-fire continues to be violated.

As a fresh move, Turkey announced on Jan. 10 that a new cease-fire in Idlib would start just after midnight on Jan. 12. However, the regime and Iran-backed terrorist groups continued their attacks.

More than 1 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks over the last year.

Since the eruption of the bloody civil war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has taken in some 3.7 million Syrians who fled their country, making it the world’s top refugee-hosting country.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar