Turkish charity urges flour delivery to Syria

AZAZ, Syria

A Turkish charity on Tuesday has urged Turks to increase flour deliveries to Syria since stocks began running low due to a drop in donations.

"The need for bread in Syria is too much. In recent times, our stocks of flour have decreased with the drop of donations," Serkan Oktem, the Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH)'s coordinator in Kilis told Anadolu Agency.

Oktem said some facilities are at the point of closure and bread coming from ovens in southeastern Kilis province, Reyhanli district in Hatay province and in many parts of Syria are being distributed to refugee camps in the Euphrates Shield region and Idlib, Syria.

"There is a big drama in Syria. Problems such as health and shelter, especially food problems, leave needy people helpless," he said, adding that Syrians are deprived of basic needs.

He said people need to be "sensitive" about the issue. "We want all associations to reach as many people as they can and to protect the oppressed in Syria,” he added.

The IHH has been carrying out aid projects in Syria since the country’s devastating conflict began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to the UN.

In the last two years, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians to return to their homes.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children. The PYD/YPG is its Syrian branch.