First Lady Emine Erdoğan has donated 57 briquette houses for displaced Syrians in the war-torn country's northwestern Idlib province, Turkey's interior minister announced Friday.
Sharing a post from his Twitter account, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated that in cooperation with the Sadakataşı Foundation and Social Development Center and the Education and Social Solidarity Association (TOGEM), Erdoğan donated 57 briquette houses to Idlib. The minister also expressed gratitude for the donation.
Idlib is currently home to about 4 million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces throughout war-torn Syria, with some likely using the cease-fire as an opportunity to return home.
Around 1 million Syrians were displaced from Idlib province when the Bashar Assad regime and its allies launched an offensive last November.
Most of the refugees sought shelter at camps close to the border with Turkey, while others went to areas under the control of the Syrian opposition.
Still, due to overcrowding and lack of essential infrastructure in refugee camps, displaced civilians face great difficulty in finding places to take shelter. Thousands of families are in dire need of humanitarian aid as they struggle to live under harsh conditions.
Soylu announced Thursday that in an attempt to ease the conditions for the refugees in the Turkish border, Turkey has raised over TL 717 million ($104.63 million) so far.
The interior minister also called President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the meeting and told him that Turkey would construct 50,000 more houses for the refugees in the region by the end of 2020.
President Erdoğan congratulated NGO leaders for their contribution to build homes for the refugees in northwestern Syria.
He said Turkey aims to fulfill its goals to build homes in the summer so refugees can take shelter before the winter months hit.
Meanwhile, the president also said he would personally fund the construction of 50 more homes for Idlib civilians, in addition to Soylu's pledge to fund 20 homes.
