Turkish NGO sends 20 trucks of humanitarian aid to Syria’s Idlib

Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) sent over 20 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria's Idlib .

President of the IHH Bülent Yıldırım said that the 20-truck aid convoy is part of a campaign that intends to send up to 1,000 trucks of humanitarian aid to Idlib.

"The tragedy that will occur in a possible (military) operation in Idlib is not only Turkey's problem but Europe's as well," Yıldırım told Anadolu Agency.

"Today, we have started with 20 trucks," but "our goal is to send 1,000 trucks," he added.

Recently, the Syrian regime and its supporters have disclosed plans to undertake a major military offensive in areas of Idlib, which is the last major stronghold of the opposition.

The United Nations warned last week that an operation would lead to the "worst humanitarian catastrophe in the 21^st century."

The Turkish IHH recently helped about 3 million needy people across the world during the Muslim festival of Kurban Bayram (or Eid al-Adha, in Arabic) by distributing meat to millions across the world. Along with Syria, IHH focuses on impoverished or war-torn countries including Iraq, , Somalia, Yemen, Bangladesh, Rakhine and East Turkestan.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests, which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings, with unexpected ferocity. Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to United Nations figures.