188,387 Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced number of Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey were 188,387 as of March 12, and total amount of money spent so far was 728.3 million Turkish Lira (TL). Davutoglu added, other spending such as accommodation, food and basic needs of Syrians were being received by the budget of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD). Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu reminded that the accommodation problem of Syrian citizens who gathered along the border since April 29, 2011 was taken under control by AFAD, Turkish Red Crescent and Turkey's Housing Administration (TOKI). He said, as of March 12, 2013, there were 17 accommodation centres in Turkey and there were 14,455 Syrian citizens in Hatay, 88,813 in Sanliurfa, 30,651 in Gaziantep, 16,343 in Kahramanmaras, 7,904 in Osmaniye, 10,018 in Adiyaman, 6,315 in Adana and 13,545 in Kilis, so in total of 188,387 Syrians were taking shelter in Turkey. Upon a question about the amount of money spent for Syrians under temporary protection, Davutoglu said, "in the bilateral and multilateral framework, up till today, the total financial aid which came into Turkey and the recent aid of Saudi Arabia was 56.7 million USD. In addition, we received tent, blanket, kitchen set, generator and medical equipment worth of 35.4 million USD. As of March 12, the amount spent for Syrians under temporary protection was 728,307,689 TL."