Politics

Turkey resumes humanitarian aid activities to Gaza following 42-day ceasefire as a result of Egypt and Qatar’s efforts.

By Manal El Warraky

A ten-person delegation from the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) and the Turkish Red Crescent recently arrived in Cairo and held a coordination meeting with the Egyptian Red Crescent and met with Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen.

The first humanitarian aid ship, “Mediterranean Sea”, arrived at the port of Arish on Wednesday, and the second humanitarian aid ship, “Emir Joy”, is scheduled to arrive at the port of Arish by Sunday as part of Turkey’s resumed humanitarian aid efforts.

Within the framework of the 42-day ceasefire agreement in Gaza as a result of the persistent efforts of Egypt and Qatar, it was decided that at least 600 aid trucks will pass through Gaza daily, and that the Rafah crossing will be opened. In this context, Turkey, which is among the first countries to send humanitarian aid to Gaza, in cooperation with Egypt, has accelerated its efforts to provide humanitarian aid through Egypt.

A delegation from the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), Turkey’s main coordinating agency in the field of humanitarian aid, and the Turkish Red Crescent recently arrived in Cairo, held a coordination meeting at the Egyptian Red Crescent, and then moved to the North Sinai region.

The delegation held consultations with local Egyptian authorities regarding the situation at the Rafah crossing and the passage of humanitarian aid.

As part of Turkey’s humanitarian aid efforts, it resumed its shipments through the port of Arish, which it had previously used. The ship “Mediterranean” carrying 835 tons of humanitarian aid set sail from Mersin port and arrived at Arish port today, January 29.

The ship was received at the port by the Turkish Ambassador to Cairo, Salih Mutlu Şen, port officials, the Deputy Director of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, and officials from the Egyptian Red Crescent.

Among the 835 tons of cargo on board the aforementioned ship are more than 10,000 tents that the people of Gaza urgently need. The Egyptian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that there is an urgent need for these tents because 80% of Gaza’s homes were destroyed during the cold winter days, especially the homes of those displaced to northern Gaza. The aforementioned shipment also includes various necessary and useful materials such as mobile toilets.

In his statements after receiving the ship, the Turkish Ambassador to Cairo, Salih Mutlu Şen, stated that the Turkish humanitarian aid efforts in cooperation with Egypt have enabled the sending of large-scale aid to Gaza, and from now on, the sending of aid by sea via Arish will be intensified in cooperation with the Egyptian Red Crescent and other authorities. He added that Turkish civil society organizations are about to resume their efforts to send the aid they provided from Cairo to Gaza via trucks.

In this context, Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen expressed his hope that aid trucks will enter Gaza more effectively after the opening of the Rafah land crossing according to the new organization and new management in the coming days. In this context, he also pointed out that there are still wounded patients in Gaza waiting for treatment and they need it, and he said that with the opening of the Rafah crossing, they will be able to send some patients to Turkey via Egypt.

He stressed that there is no alternative to the Rafah border crossing in terms of humanitarian aid and the passage of individuals.

Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen explained that Turkey has so far sent 14 ships, including the “Mediterranean” ship, and that the fifteenth ship, “Emir Joy”, will arrive at the port of Arish in the coming days with a load of nearly 2,000 tons.

In the future, if the ceasefire continues and humanitarian aid is sent to Gaza in this amount, Turkey, in cooperation with the Egyptian authorities, will continue to provide humanitarian aid through the port of Arish without interruption, saying, “We will not leave our oppressed and persecuted brothers in Gaza alone.”

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