Turkish Red Crescent gives medical aid to Palestine

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Turkish Red Crescent has donated $1 million worth of medical supplies to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Gurcan Turkoglu, Turkey’s consul-general in Palestine, announced Monday.

The announcement was made at a meeting between Turkoglu and Palestinian Health Minister Jawad Awad at the ministry's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Monday’s meeting was also attended by Bulent Korkmaz, coordinator of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in Palestine, and Selami Kilic, head of international health policy at the Turkish Health Ministry.

According to a statement released by the Palestinian Health Ministry, Turkoglu stressed his country’s continued support for the Palestinian health sector and the "deep brotherly relations” between Turkey and Palestine.

Awad, for his part, hailed the support of the Turkish people and government for the Palestinian cause “politically, economically and at all levels”.

At Monday’s meeting, Awad also briefed his interlocutors on the critical public health situation faced by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Turkey is currently financing construction of a 180-bed "Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital” in Gaza. Built on ​​34,000 square meters of land, the facility is set to become the largest hospital in Palestine.