New schools open for Syrian orphans in southern Turkey

By Cem Genco

HATAY, Turkey

The academic year began on Wednesday for Syrian orphans at residential complex in southern Hatay province of Turkey.

The complex, which was jointly built by Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) and Yetim Vakfi (Orphan Foundation), includes newly-constructed primary school and imam-hatip -- religious high school.

Some 800 Syrian orphans have enrolled in the schools in Reyhanli district of the province.

Turkey hosts 3.5 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world. The country has spent more than $32 billion from its own national resources for helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.