Turkish agency launches aid campaign for Syria’s Idlib

A 20-truck convoy carrying humanitarian aid for Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib set off from Istanbul on Monday, president of a Turkish aid agency said.

This is the first part of 1,000 truck-load of humanitarian aid for Idlib, Bülent Yıldırım, the president of the Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) told reporters during the event.

"A tragedy that will occur in a possible [military] operation in Idlib is not only Turkey’s problem but Europe’s as well," Yıldırım said.

The Syrian regime has recently announced plans to launch a major military offensive in the area, which has long been controlled by various armed opposition groups.

The UN warned last week that such an offensive would lead to the "worst humanitarian catastrophe in the 21st century".

Turkey currently hosts nearly 3.5 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world.

"Our goal is to send 1,000 trucks to Idlib," Yıldırım said, adding the agency was working across Turkey for this aid campaign.

"Today, we have started with 20 trucks," he added.

"Idlib hit by barrel bombs as well. These bombs hit even civil defense teams. Russia hits too," he added.

On Sunday, a footage showing Russian and regime jets targeting teams of the White Helmets while rescuing civilians in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province was revealed.

The video showed a team of the White Helmets, a local civil defense agency, while extinguishing a fire that broke out after an airstrike in Khan Sheykhun.

Anas Diab, a civil defense member, was injured while capturing the video and pleaded for help from others around him when another strike hit the area near him.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in 2011. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict and millions more displaced, according to the UN.