MESOP FLASH : Turkey to Open a Camp for Sinjar Refugees

06.08.2014 – Hemin Khoshnaw – BasNews, Erbil – The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) of Turkey, a direct link to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has decided to open a refugee camp in the town of Sharia near Mosul for the growing number of refugees being displaced throughout Iraq.

Fatih Ozer, director of AFAD told BasNews that their directorate has decided to open the camp in Sharia in the next fifteen days to accommodate the 20,000 current refugees in Iraq that desperately need assistance. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey received permission from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to open the camp, which will be created based on international standards will cost upwards of US15 million.” added Ozer. He also stated that: “in terms of the quality of the camp, it will be more comfortable and better equipped than any other camp built in Turkey.” The building of the camp does not come without concerns though; Ozer worries about the propaganda that some people spread regarding the attitude of the Turkish government towards ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq. “This is a humanitarian duty. We do this without noting the gender, religion or ethnicity of people. Since early June, we have sent 140 trucks loaded with relief products for the refugees. The allegations that we judge based on race are absolutely not true,” added Ozer.