Turkish aid body making tents for 40,000 refugees

The Turkish Red Crescent Society has recently started to produce tents for around 40,000 refugees as part of a deal signed with the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Turkish agency said on Thursday.

"The production of a total of 8,000 tents which were ordered by the IOM has been launched recently and continues at full pace," Kerem Kinik, the agency's president, told Xinhua.

The agency plans to complete the production process at the beginning of next year when its contract with the IOM ends.

"Following the delivery of the tents, it would immediately be possible to protect a total of 40,000 people from external conditions," said Kinik.

According to Mehmet Eyyup Alper, the agency's accommodation coordinator, new materials are being used in making the tents instead of pure cotton.

"The tents consist of two layers," he explained. "To ensure heat isolation and air circulation, we are using polyvinyl chloride material on the roofs and fabric on the walls, while the inner-part materials help to provide a comfortable environment for people."

The Turkish aid agency, with a significant international network, is the largest humanitarian organization in Turkey, a country hosting more than 3.5 million refugees on its soil.