Turkey's state-run aid agency yesterday opened a clinic in western Myanmar's Rakhine State, the homeland of the Rohingya Muslims.

The clinic in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, will provide minor surgical operations, mother and childcare, outpatient and general care, said the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) in a statement. The health services provided at the clinic will be accessible to all ethnic and religious groups, the agency added.

The Rohingya, described by the U.N. as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012. According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017. Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar's state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).