15 March 2018•Update: 15 March 2018
By Kaan Bozdagan
ISTANBUL
The Turkish Red Crescent has sent 40,000 truckloads of humanitarian aid to Syria since the beginning of the war in 2011, head of Turkish Red Crescent has told Anadolu Agency.
“We sent 40,000 trucks to save human lives, to relieve their suffering and we will continue to do so," Kerem Kinik said.
Kinik said the ongoing operation of the Turkish Armed Forces in northwestern Afrin helps the Red Crescent in providing humanitarian aid to civilians.
On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear YPG/PKK-Daesh terrorists from Afrin, northwestern Syria.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.
Kinik said that as the Turkish military continues to liberate the Afrin region, the Turkish Red Crescent is working in cooperation with the Turkish Armed Forces to provide support to civilians.
The Red Crescent is working in nearly 200 locations in the Afrin region to reach out to people in need, Kinik said.
“We are here [in Afrin region] to provide humanitarian aid, to liberate people living under the oppression of terrorist organizations and to provide them a more honorable life,” he said.
2,500 evacuated from Damascus
“We [Turkish Red Crescent] are obliged to provide security, protection and humanitarian aid to people who are in need and suffer, otherwise there is no reason for us to exist,” he said.
Kinik said the Red Crescent evacuated 2,500 civilians from the Al-Qadam district of Damascus, which remains the target of a crippling siege by the Assad regime, on Tuesday.
A bus convoy brought the evacuees to transit camps which had been set up by the organization in Idlib, he added.
Kinik said the evacuees were relieved when they saw the Turkish Red Crescent emblem and the Turkish flag.
Aid without discrimination
Kinik, who is also the vice president responsible for the European region of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said the Turkish Red Crescent has nine permanent representatives and projects in nearly 40 countries.
“These projects are conducted without discrimination of race, religion, language or region,” he said.
“No matter who they are, we are standing with the oppressed people and no matter who the oppressors are we are standing against them.
“As the Turkish Red Crescent, we are protecting this position in humanitarian aid,” he said.
Kinik said the Red Crescent was helping wherever it could without questioning the identity of the people in need.
“This comes from the dignity of these lands [Turkey] and the politeness of its nation and we are trying our best to represent them,” he added.
