Turkish and Syrian Red Crescent deliver food to Syria with ICRC support

Geneva (ICRC) – Humanitarian aid has today been successfully delivered into north-east Syria, in an operation jointly organized by the Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS), the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Two thousand food parcels were brought into Syria to be distributed to displaced people and civilians in Al-Hassake Governorate. Carried in two trucks, they were delivered to the border between the Turkish city of Nusaybin and the city of Qamishli in Syria. Before proceeding into Syria, the parcels were transferred from the TRCS's trucks to trucks provided by the SARC.

The Nusaybin-Qamishli border crossing currently is the only way to reach civilians living in Al-Hassake. The difficult security situation in Syria makes regular road access from central and southern regions, to the north-east, quite challenging. As a result, people have not had regular access to relief supplies, despite the increasing urgency of the situation.

"This is a new approach of coordinating efforts with our National Society counterparts in order to assist civilians in Al-Hassake. It proved successful," said the ICRC's head of Operations for Europe and Central Asia, Laurent Corbaz. "We are grateful to the Turkish and Syrian Red Crescent societies for joining the ICRC on this important humanitarian operation."

"We truly hope that our humanitarian dialogue and cooperation will continue, and the ICRC will be able to do more to meet the growing needs of people in Syria," said Mr Corbaz.

For further information, please contact:
Zara Amatuni, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 25 02 or +41 79 536 92 48