Turkish aid agencies send supplies to Idlib, Syria

By Erdal Turkoglu

HATAY, Turkey (AA) - Turkish aid agencies on Monday dispatched five trucks with humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria, where millions of people remain in need of assistance due to internal conflict.

The trucks crossed over into Syria’s Idlib province through the Yayladagi district of Turkey’s southern Hatay province.

Water, flour, dry food and clothes were among the supplies collected, and sent to the points where humanitarian aid is distributed from the Syrian border.

Aid is distributed to families staying in tent cities in rural Idlib.

Syria has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and millions more displaced.

Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia. The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire understandings, which have frequently been violated by the Assad regime and its allies.