Turkey Starts Getting Int'l Aid for Syria Refugees
International aid for Syrians fleeing President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown has begun to arrive in Turkey, its foreign minister said Friday amid concern over growing refugee numbers.
"We will start getting international aid, and in fact we have already started," after swelling numbers of refugees who turned up at Turkish-Syrian border, Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) this week dispatched 1,500 tents and 1,500 blankets to Turkey, diplomatic sources told Agence France Presse.
Turkey, a one-time ally of the Syrian regime but now one of its strongest critics, is home to around 25,000 Syrians living in several camps set up in three provinces.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the international community to help Turkey house Syrian refugees.
"We have already spent $150 million (114 million euros). What are we to do if this exodus reaches 100,000 people?" he asked.
Source: Agence France Presse
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