Turkey sets up camps for Syrians fleeing Eastern Ghouta

GAZİANTEP – Anadolu Agency

The Turkish Red Crescent has set up two more camps for those fleeing parts of Eastern Ghouta now controlled by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, an official from the aid agency said on April 11.

Kadir Akgündüz, the aid group’s Syria field coordinator, told state-run Anadolu Agency that the camps, boasting a 500 and 1,200-person capacity respectively, were set up in the war-torn country’s cities of Azaz and Idlib, controlled by rebel forces.

The number of camps will be increased, Akgündüz added.

“As long as there is a need for camps, we will continue setting up camps,” he said.

Apart from the Turkish Red Crescent, other aid organizations are also helping people who are fleeing Eastern Ghouta, he added.

According to the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, Assad regime forces used toxic gas to strike targets in eastern Ghouta’s Douma district on April 7, killing at least 78 civilians.