Ankara and Doha have launched a joint aid campaign for Syrian refugees in Turkey yesterday.
Aid organisations the Turkish Red Crescent and the Qatar Charity, a Doha-based NGO, inked a deal in Istanbul for $10 million to aid refugees.
According to the agreement, the Red Crescent and the Qatar Charity will collaborate extensively for a period of five years.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the head of the Turkish Red Crescent, Kerem Kinik, said the main purpose of the deal was to deliver more services to Syrian refugees in Turkey.
“It will be an opportunity in order to help almost three million Syrians hosted by Turkey and nearly 6.5 million displaced people in Syria. Thanks to this collaboration, $10 million will be allocated to projects in the fields of nutrition, accommodation, education and health services,” he said.
He added that the Qatar Charity and the Red Crescent would continue to collaborate on other issues.
“We have common areas of interest such as Palestine, Iraq and Somalia,” he added. “This collaboration is just a beginning.”
More than eight million Syrians have benefited from the projects the charity implemented since the outbreak of the war, said Yusuf bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari, the CEO of the Qatar Charity, citing that they planned to reach more after opening a regional office in Ankara in 2016.