UN journalists set for weeklong Turkish tour

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA (AA) - In a one-week tour starting Monday, some 10 United Nations journalists will travel to Turkey for meetings with government ministers and other officials in Ankara as well as refugee camps in southeastern Gaziantep and cultural sites in İstanbul.

Organized by the Foreign Press Association in Switzerland and Liechtenstein (APES) and supported by Turkey's Directorate General of Press and Information, the journalists will first visit the Turkish Grand National Assembly or parliament, the Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign Ministry, Anadolu Agency, state broadcaster TRT, and other locations in Ankara.

Expected to meet with the journalists are Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci.

The UN journalists will travel from Ankara to the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep to meet with Gaziantep Governor Ali Yerlikaya and also visit Syrian refugee camps.

Lastly, they will fly to Istanbul to visit cultural sites before going back to Switzerland.

As of this February, Turkey is hosting around 260,000 refugees in camps in its southeastern/eastern provinces of Hatay, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Kilis, Mardin, Kahramanmaras, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Adana, and Malatya.

The camps, run with the support of many institutions, have been transformed into modern living spaces with infrastructure, social spaces, healthcare facilities, and education services.

Turkey now hosts some 3 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world. The country has spent around $25 billion helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.