South Korea to open 6 health centers in Turkey

By Selahattin Ozbozkurt

MERSIN, Turkey

The ambassador of South Korea to Turkey said Friday they will open six health centers in Turkey for Syrian refugees.

Speaking to reporters in southern Mersin province, Cho Yun-soo said: "We are planning to open six health centers in six cities of Turkey in cooperation with the Turkish Health Ministry."

He added that they will lay the foundation stone for a health center in Tarsus district in Mersin in the coming days, and will inaugurate the completed project in April next year.

Nearly 40,000 Syrians are living in Tarsus, according to official figures.

Earlier this week, South Korea laid the foundation stone of the first health center in Ankara.

Cho appreciated Turkey’s efforts for the refugee crisis.

To support the refugees, he said, South Korea had built four schools in Turkey in 2015.

"Two of these schools are in Gaziantep and two in Sanliurfa. 4,000 students are studying in these schools," Cho said.

Turkey hosts 3.2 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world, according to official figures.

Ankara has spent $25 billion in helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since 2011. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by the conflict and millions more displaced, according to UN figures.

Reporting by Selahattin Ozbozkurt; Writing b y Fatih Hafiz Mehmet