EU to back Turkey in helping Syrian refugees: Officials

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA

The European Commission's international aid officials on Wednesday vowed to cooperate with Turkey in helping the Syrian refugees.

Laura Fallavolita and Feyhan Canbay, the EU officials, gave presentation to Turkish parliament’s commission on migration and integration.

Fallavolita said that they were taking a joint action with Turkish security departments for the operations towards security of refugees.

"Our aim is to back Turkey on the issue of the refugees coming from Syria," she said.

Canbay said that they are planning to establish two hospitals in Turkey's southern Hatay and Kilis provinces.

"We have spent €800 million ($991 million) for education of Syrians in 2017," she added.

Turkey, as the largest refugee hosting country in the world, hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, according to UN figures.