PACE rapporteur to visit Turkey regarding its assistance to Syrian refugess

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) rapporteur Jean-Marie Bockel is in Turkey for two days, Aug. 21-22, as part of preparations for a report on the international assistance given to Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Bockel is set to visit Hatay and meet the governor of the province and Turkish government officials, including some from the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD), at the Prime Ministry. He will also visit representatives of the Turkish Red Crescent and a refugee camp. Bockel will try to determine the impact of the refugee influx on the local community. In his previous visit to Lebanon from Aug. 19-20, before coming to Turkey, Bockel visited Syrian refugees in Allawi in south Lebanon and Ketermaya, southeast of Beirut, where he discussed their situation with representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other NGOs working in the field. Bockel's report is a follow-up to a debate on current affairs which was held by the assembly in April 2013.