AFAD chief: Turkey aided Yazidis most


Turkey is the country that has provided the most amount of aid to the Yazidi community, which has suffered at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), according to Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD.Yazidis fled their homeland and sheltered in several countries, including Turkey, after the advance of ISIS on Mount Sinjar, in northwest Iraq near the border with Syria.It has been home to thousands of Yazidis who fled in fear of being massacred by ISIS militants in August 2014, who consider them "devil-worshippers."Turkey, which aids destitute people regardless of their religion, language, race and sect, welcomed the Yazidis in camps set up in the Midyat and Nusaybin districts of the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin.Fuat Oktay, the head of Turkey's emergency management authority, told Anadolu Agency that the authority set up camps for 18,300 registered Yazidis. "There is no country other than Turkey systematically and continuously providing assistance to Yazidis around the world," said Oktay.Oktay said they set up camps for around 3,000 Yazidis in Midyat and about 17,000 in Nusaybin district and added that Turkey can host more Yazidis that need humanitarian aid.AFAD also set up camps outside Turkey in the Iraqi city of Duhok and its Zakho district, which Oktay said were fully equipped to meet the needs of the Yazidis there."We set up a 22,000-people camp in Duhok and a 15,000-people camp in Zakho," said Oktay, adding they were providing assistance for the setup of a camp in Kirkuk, north Iraq."Turkey is helping everyone regardless of whether they are Turkmen, Kurdish, Arab, Sunni, Shia, Christian or Muslim," Oktay added. Sinjar, which is home to many Yazidi Kurds, had been under ISIS control since Aug. 3, 2014, when the peshmerga withdrew from the region. Around 30,000 Yazidis fled to Mount Sinjar following the advance. Of this number, 20,000 have been transferred to the province of Dohuk through a safe corridor along the Syrian border.