The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund's (UNICEF) representative in Turkey, Philippe Duamelle, underscored yesterday that Syrians found peace and security in Turkey, calling the international community to support Ankara's efforts on refugee children.

"During my stay in Turkey, I witnessed 4 million Syrians taking shelter in Turkey. Throughout this process, Turkish people have shown great solidarity and hospitality. Turkish services provided to Syrians have increased gradually and Syrians found peace and security that they have been looking for," Duamelle told Anadolu Agency (AA) during a visit to a container refugee camp in Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep province.

Stressing that UNICEF and Ankara have been closely cooperating since 1951, Duamelle underscored that his organization and Turkey share the same vision to carve out a better future for Syria for the sake of the whole of humanity.

Noting that investments for Syrian children should be made to ensure the reconstruction of Syria, Duamelle called on the international community to mobilize and support Turkey's efforts aimed at Syrian children, adding that even the smallest financial aid for improving the psychology of child victims of war is important.

Duamelle said that the reconstruction of the war-torn country can only be achieved through the education of Syrian children. He underlined that nearly 650,000 Syrian children are receiving education and 85 percent of them are going to state schools, while 400,000 children still cannot access education.

The civil war in neighboring Syria has saddled Turkey with the task of addressing challenges stemming from the ongoing crisis. Pursuing an open door policy, Turkey has been hosting over 3 million refugees. Aside from meeting the basic needs of refugees, Ankara has been focusing on providing education to refugee children with an aim of giving them a better future and exerting efforts for the socioeconomic integration of refugees within the country.