Turkish group delivers humanitarian aid to northern Syria

A Turkish aid group on Wednesday sent three truckloads of humanitarian aid to two areas of northern Syria cleared of terrorists last fall as part of Turkey's Operation Peace Spring.

The aid – which includes staples such as flour, sugar and oil provided by the Aziz Mahmut Hüdayi Foundation – was distributed in the areas of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, under the coordination of an aid platform based in the Turkish province of Şanlıurfa just across the border.

Osman Gerem, head of the Şanlıurfa Humanitarian Aid Platform, told Anadolu Agency that the coronavirus outbreak had hampered their aid work but that the group had found ways to reach people in need with the help of some large nongovernmental organizations.

Syria has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to estimates by the United Nations.

Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring last October to eliminate YPG/PKK terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River to secure Turkey's borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria's territorial integrity.

Over the course of its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is its Syrian offshoot.