Syrian refugees in Turkey receive aid from Saudi Arabia

A Saudi group has sent 21 trucks of humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees seeking shelter in southern Turkey.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency at the entrance of Elbeyli Refugee Camp, the head of the Saudi National Campaign for Support Brothers in Syria office in Turkey, Khaled al-Salama, said they brought 60,000 blankets and 30,000 coats in cooperation with Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

Five additional trucks of aid are also en route to Elbeyli from Turkey’s Iskenderun province.

The Elbeyli camp in southern Kilis province hosts around 24,000 Syrian people.

Salama said the Saudi group, which started sending aid in August 2012, has sent 450,000 blankets, 300,000 coats, one million jumpers and 150,000 items of women’s clothing between 2015 and 2016.

Salama also thanked Turkey for its “diligent” effort in helping Syrian refugees and said the two countries will continue to help the “Syrian brothers” with humanitarian projects.

In addition, AFAD’s Kilis provincial manager, Ilhami Akgul, thanked Saudi Arabia for its aid campaign.

Turkey is home to the world’s biggest refugee population, with more than 2.5 million Syrian people, and has spent $9 billion so far on caring for those who have fled the war.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of President Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.