Angelina Jolie in Turkey’s Mardin to meet Syrian, Iraqi refugees

MARDIN – Anadolu Agency

Reuters photo

Hollywood star and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has arrived in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin to visit Syrian refugees.

The Oscar-winning American actress and director arrived in Turkey late on June 19 on a private plane to visit Syrian and Iraqi refugees, who fled clashes in their countries, in temporary protection centers in the Midyat district of Mardin.

Jolie is scheduled to participate in a program, which will be held for World Refugee Day with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres, who is also in Turkey.

On June 20, Guterres, is scheduled to visit the temporary protection centers in Turkey's southeastern provinces of Mardin, Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep.

Jolie had visited Turkey in 2012, when she met Syrian refugees, accompanied by Guterres in the southeastern provinces of Gaziantep and Kilis.  

In 2011, Angelina Jolie traveled to Turkey's southern province of Hatay - 20 kilometers from the Syrian border - to meet with refugees who had fled Syria. 

"The people in this camp have fled in fear for their lives, and many told me they were distraught about the safety of loved ones still in Syria," Jolie said.

At the time, there were almost 10,000 people living in four camps managed by Turkey and the Turkish Red Crescent.

Over the past two weeks only, a total of 23,349 Syrian refugees fleeing clashes in Syria have entered Turkey, the spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said June 18.