More than 700 million Turkish Liras collected for Idlib aid: Minister

ANKARA

A total of 717,063,102 Turkish Liras were collected since an aid campaign has been launched for Idlib on Jan. 13, Interior Minister Soylu said, pledging 50,000 houses to be built in the region.

Soylu had a phone conversation with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a “Civil Society Organizations Idlib Consultation Meeting” organized by Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) on June 25.

The interior minister informed Erdoğan that some 50,000 briquette housings will be constructed in the region by the end of this year.

“If we can realize our housing target rapidly in the summer season, then we can get our Syrian brothers to settle here, hopefully, they will have the chance to enter the winter season. Then, we go over the target of 50,000 houses and we increase them further,” Erdoğan stated.

Erdoğan congratulated representatives of non-governmental organizations for their struggle in the Idlib region.

In January, Turkish aid groups have begun building houses in Syria’s northwestern province to shelter growing numbers of people displaced by fighting, as Turkey seeks to prevent a new influx of migrants fleeing from Syria.

The move came after nearly 1.5 million refugees fled Idlib to Turkish border over Syrian and Russian forces have bombarded rebel-controlled targets in Idlib earlier this year.