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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

IRAQ: Humanitarian supplies for Iraq continue

ANKARA, 11 November 2003 (IRIN) - The Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) is continuing to deliver supplies for internally displaced people in Iraq, with yet another convoy leaving for the turbulent nation over last weekend.

"This is the fourth dispatch to date, which will deliver items to the north for 500 families," the deputy director-general of the TRC, Oktay Ergunay, told IRIN in the Turkish capital, Ankara on Tuesday.

The supplies, bound for the northern governorates of Mosul and Dahuk, comprise tents, blankets, mattresses, gas stoves, medical supplies and food.

"In winter, the temperature drops down to minus seven or eight in some parts of the Iraqi border, and these people need to be prepared, otherwise there will be serious consequences for them," Ergunay said. The total cost of the supplies is some US $330,000. "Turkey wants to continue helping its neighbour for as long as we can," he added.

Ergunay said no problems had so far affected the transportation of the goods, which this time would take a day and a half to reach the Turkish border with Iraq and then another couple of hours to reach Mosul and Dahuk. "Our teams will stay there for a week or so and help distribute the goods," he said, adding that the TRC had been working very closely with the Iraqi Red Crescent.

So far, supplies for some 1,000 families have been transported into Iraq by the TRC, which aims to help a total of about 2,500 families. However, "the security situation is really having a negative effect on humanitarian work in the country as aid agencies have relocated, and this is not good for the people of Iraq", he observed.

Turkey, as a neighbouring country, has said it would like to continue contributing towards humanitarian work in Iraq. However, on 7 November the government announced that it would not be sending troops to Iraq, in spite of a vote last month in which the Turkish parliament approved their deployment. The approval followed a request by the US, a fellow NATO member, for more foreign troops.

The Turkish foreign ministry has issued a statement saying that a discussion had been held between Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and US State Secretary Colin Powell on 6 November, during which Gul said that Ankara would re-evaluate its proposal to send troops to Iraq.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

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This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003