Turkish Red Crescent: siege undermines passage of aid to Gazans

Officials from the Turkish Red Crescent said that the eight-year old siege on Gaza undermines Turkish attempts to deliver aid that covers the needs of all Gazans and guarantees them a decent life, Anadolu news agency said.

The officials stated that their organisation is now studying the needs of the Strip in order to address them, noting that they would ask the Turkish government and Turkish NGOs to support them.

On Thursday, a delegation from the Turkish Red Crescent, including the chief director and other senior officials in the organisation, arrived in Gaza to assess the needs more closely.

The director of the Red Crescent said that his organisation has been offering aid in all fields to the Gaza Strip for a long time, and “we are going to continue until the end of the siege.”

“The Turkish Red Crescent faced difficulties in transferring wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Turkey because of the Israeli restrictions,” he said, noting that 79 wounded Gazans are being treated in Turkish hospitals.

He said that the Israeli authorities refused and has been refusing to allow large numbers of wounded Gazans to pass through its crossings so they could travel to Turkey for treatment.

The official noted that the Turkish healthcare system is very well equipped and is able to offer proper medical treatment for hundreds of the wounded, but he said that this is connected to Israeli approval.

Regarding the plans to send a Turkish floating power plant to address the electricity problem in Gaza, the official said that the efforts on this issue are underway, but this issue is also connected to Israeli approval, as well as to the ability of the electricity grids in Gaza.

The officials stressed there is real intention from the Turkish government to send this ship, noting that the Turkish power authority is conducting studies on this.

Regarding the latest plans to send caravans from Turkey to the Gaza residents to be used as temporary houses for the people who lost their homes, the official said that discussions are still underway. He hoped that this issue will be sorted out in the near future.