Turkish aid agency opens mall in Syria's Idlib province

A Turkish aid agency on May 22 opened a shopping mall in the war-torn Syrian province of Idlib for families living in the region.        

Erhan Yemelek, the Humanitarian Relief Organization's (İHH) Syria coordinator, told state-run Anadolu Agency that the mall has shops for groceries, clothes and shoes, and it will also be used as a site to organize social activities.        

"Syrian families [affected by the ongoing civil war] will benefit from the mall free of cost for a year," Yemelek said.        

He added that the aid agency will determine families in need of help and give them an allowance for shopping.       
The İHH is one of the leading aid agencies in Turkey, which sends humanitarian aid to suffering people across the world, including war-torn Syria, drought-hit Somalia, and conflict-torn regions in Myanmar.        

The organization has sent over 12,000 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to Syria so far since the civil war started in 2011.        

Syria's Idlib province came under an alleged chemical attack by al-Assad regime warplanes on April 4. More than 100 civilians were killed and 500 injured in the attack in the town of Khan Sheikhun, according to the Syrian opposition government's health minister, Firas Jundi.        

The Syrian regime has denied allegations that it targeted the area with chemical weapons.