Turkey sends medical aid for Yemeni refugees in Djibouti

DJIBOUTI – Anadolu Agency

Yemeni workers unload medical aid boxes from a boat carrying 460 tonnes of Emirati relief aid that docked in the port of the city of Aden, on May 24, 2015. AFP Photo

Six tons of Turkey-donated medical equipment and supplies, along with six fully-equipped ambulances, have arrived in Djibouti, the Turkish ambassador to the country said on July 5.

According to Ambassador Hasan Yavuz, the six ambulances were sent to Djiboutian Health Ministry officials by the Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), while the medical equipment was sent by the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

Both agencies are run by Ankara.

In February, Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoglu and his Djiboutian counterpart Kassim Issak Osman signed a donation agreement in Ankara paving the way for the delivery of the ambulances.

Turkey’s relations with Djibouti, a country of less than a million people, have developed steadily in recent years, with Turkey opening an embassy in Djibouti in 2012. Djibouti followed suit the next year, opening its own diplomatic mission in Ankara.      

According to Yavuz, the six tons of donated medical equipment are intended for refugees in Djibouti who have recently fled war-torn Yemen.      

Despite the fact that Djibouti is considered one of the world’s 20 least developed countries, it is the only country in the Horn of Africa to welcome refugees from Yemen, which lies just across the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Yemen has descended into chaos since last September, when the Shia Houthi militant group overran the capital Sanaa.