3 yıl önce

Turkish Red Crescent sends aid to displaced Afghans

The shipment of food will be sent on Saturday from Pakistan to Kabul and will provide for 16,000 people for a month, says Turkish Red Crescent President Kerem Kinik.

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An old man carries an aid package distributed by Turkish Red Crescent for the families that are victims of the flood disaster in Parwan Province located near the Afghan capital Kabul on August 27, 2020.

The Turkish Red Crescent is sending aid to Afghanistan to provide food to internally displaced people in need amid turmoil following the Taliban's takeover, the organisation's head has said.

Half a million people have been displaced in Afghanistan in recent months, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, a number which would grow if health services, schools and the economy break down.

Turkish Red Crescent President Kerem Kinik said the shipment of food will be sent on Saturday from Pakistan to Kabul and will provide for 16,000 people for a month.

"There is a serious food crisis right now. Public order needs to be provided for local production," he told Reuters by telephone, citing a halt in international trade, drought and a decline in international aid as reasons for the problem.

He said the Turkish Red Crescent had provided support to areas under Taliban control before US troops pulled out and there had been no problem in providing aid after the withdrawal.

"The Taliban appointed an authority to the head of the Afghan Red Crescent for the transition process," he said, adding that they were cooperating to bring humanitarian aid to Afghans.

The Turkish Red Crescent had provided some $250,000 since 2018 to Afghans who established their own businesses after returning to the country and would increase the amount, he said.

Today in #Kabul, #Afghanistan.

In cooperation with @ARCSAfghanistan, we provided food support to families displaced to Kabul from different regions of Afghanistan.

We stand with, stay for and support the people of Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/2UACm31rRu
— Dr Kerem Kınık (@drkerem) August 28, 2021

Refugees in Turkey

Turkey hosts some 300,000 Afghans as well as 3.6 million Syrian refugees - the largest refugee population in the world.

Bordering Iran, Iraq and Syria on its eastern and southern flanks and Greece and Bulgaria to the west, Turkey is a transit route for migrants trying to reach the European Union.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will not allow Afghanistan's turmoil to be an excuse to turn his country into a "migrant storage unit" for the European Union.

Turkish authorities are building a wall along the eastern border and stepping up patrols to intercept migrants.

NATO member Turkey has been working with Qatar to operate Kabul airport and open it for international travel after the Taliban took power and foreign countries withdrew.

Erdogan said last week the Taliban's current approach and their interim government were not inclusive but Turkey was willing to work with them if they formed a more encompassing government, broadcaster Haberturk reported.