An official statistic of the Iraq's aid provided to Syria and Turkey

Baghdad-INA 

The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers counted the volume of relief aid provided by Iraq to the Syrian and Turkish peoples as a result of the earthquake disaster.

The spokesman for the General Secretariat, Haider Majeed, told Al-Iraqiya News, and was followed by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "to date, 50 planes have been sent, 24 of them to the airports of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria, carrying 126.5 tons of aid, and 26 planes to Gaziantep Airport in Turkey, carrying 136.5 tons.".

He added, "These trips were accompanied by 234 employees, crews, and official delegations, which carried various food, medical, and relief supplies, in addition to 35 officers and members of the search and investigation teams from the Civil Defense Directorate to Turkey, along with the Iraqi Red Crescent teams that went to Syria as well.".

He pointed out that "tomorrow, 3 planes will depart for the first time to the Syrian city of Latakia, and the reality of the situation in Syria is catastrophic, as survivors of the earthquake sleep in the streets despite the extreme cold, lack the simplest services, and constantly need clothes, blankets, food, tents, and medical supplies.".

He continued, "The Popular Mobilization Authority has established shelters there, and provides daily about 10,000 meals, and provides immediate aid centers and mobile clinics. The Authority also provided aid to the Turkish people, and the last flight contained oil heaters.".

He stressed that "in parallel, there are Iraqi popular campaigns through the NGO Department in the General Secretariat to support the Syrian and Turkish peoples, providing donations, and tomorrow the first campaign will be in Latakia.".

And he indicated that "Iraqi institutions contributed to the relief campaign by land, as follows: the Ministry of Commerce 650 tons of food, defense 850 tons of relief materials, and oil one million liters of fuel, in addition to the donations of professors and students of the University of Basra to Syria.".

Regarding the situation of the Iraqi community in the two countries, Majeed affirmed that "the majority of them are in Turkey, and we recorded 13 deaths and 22 injuries as a result of the earthquake in the city of Gaziantep, and we٠ returned 20 citizens of them to Iraq and 59 others from Ankara, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues through its consulates in the affected cities to receive Iraqi contacts."