Cypriot humanitarian aid en route to Turkey

Humanitarian aid donated by Greek Cypriots was loaded onto UN trucks in the buffer zone on Wednesday in cooperation with Turkish Cypriot relief efforts to earthquake victims.

UN Peacekeepers at the divided capital’s historic Ledra Palace in the buffer zone have been collecting supplies from the south and handing them over to the north, where they will been route to earthquake victims in Turkey.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, schools, embassies, non-governmental organizations, organized groups and citizens contributed in the effort, which was completed on Sunday.

British Major Gavin Randell, whose work typically involves overseeing UN troops patrolling the buffer zone, gave reporters on Wednesday a rundown of what the peacekeepers have also been doing to support earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria.

“Over the last few days, we’ve been open for donations, we’d been taking supplies from local people and from local organizations and today we are loading them onto the trucks to be able to take them to the Turkish Cypriot authorities, who will be able to take them where they are needed most,” Randell said.

According to the major, over 100 boxes of supplies have been received, with more than half being blankets and a quarter of them being clothes. Food and sanitary supplies, including baby care, were also included in the donations.

CNA said the humanitarian aid collected was estimated at about two tons, including dry food, water, sleeping bags, blankets, winter clothes and shoes, personal hygiene items, detergents, cleaning supplies, children's diapers, toys, and dog food.

“These are all things that are really important and really critical supplies that are desperately needed in Turkey and Syria at the moment,” Randell added.

The collected supplies from the south will be included in a Turkey-bound shipment that is expected to depart Famagusta port in the north.

Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines for half a century. A UN peacekeeping force known as UNFICYP was established in March 1964 in an attempt to prevent the recurrence of interethnic violence between the two major ethnic communities on the island, which remains divided between a recognized south in the Republic of Cyprus governed by Greek Cypriots and a Turkish Cypriot north not recognized by any country except Turkey.