ANKARA
A senior United Nations official has said the world appreciates Turkey's efforts to help Syrian refugees.
The UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, Stephen O’Brien, made the remarks during his visit to Turkey's Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) in capital Ankara on Thursday.
"The world hails Turkey's efforts and help it gives to Syrian refugees," O’Brien said.
AFAD head Fuat Oktay also said that Turkey was making all efforts to help in the humanitarian crisis in Syria since beginning of the civil war in 2011.
The Syria conflict began in early 2011 when the regime of President Bashar al-Assad responded with violence to popular protests that erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings.
More than four years of intense fighting have left the country divided between pro-Assad forces and a number of heavily armed opposition factions, which are often at odds among themselves.
Roughly half of the country’s population has been displaced by the violence, with over four million Syrians now seeking refuge in neighboring countries, especially Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq.
