Turkish group provides aid to Syrians in Lebanon

By Mahmut Geldi

BEIRUT, Lebanon

A Turkish aid group distributed winter aid packages to Syrians at refugee camps in Lebanon’s western Bekaa Valley, an official of the group said Wednesday.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mustafa Ozbek, media coordinator of Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), said the region tough situations due to harsh winter.

“We [IHH] distributed firewood, food packs, mattresses and blankets to 1,500 families [...] We want to make these refugees have a smooth winter,” Ozbek said.

The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation has been helping war victims 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 Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas.