TÜRKİYE at 100 – One hundred years of the Republic of Türkiye
Editors: Ramachandra Byrappa, Mustafa Burak Şener, Dávid Biró
This e-book was first published in 2025 – Istanbul
TUİÇ Akademi (2025) pp. 85-107. , 23 p.
Humanitarian food assistance to syrian refugees in Turkey: modalities, challenges, fluctuating cooperation between domestic and international actors
Sára Gibárti
Abstract
Due to the massive refugee influx created by the war in Syria, Turkey now is one of the world’s largest refugee hosting countries, with around 3.2 million displaced Syrians on its territory. The presence of a significant refugee population, mainly in urban areas of Turkey, has not only created socio-economic, demographic, and political challenges, but has inevitably resulted in humanitarian and social obstacles among the refugee population and host communities alike. The primary aim of this book chapter is to discuss the transforming humanitarian food assistance methods by the United Nations to Syrian refugees in Turkey. In addition, the research examines the cooperation frameworks between actors involved in humanitarian food assistance, i.e., relevant UN agencies (e.g., WFP), local and international NGOs, and Turkish government institutions. One of the main findings of the research is that while cooperation between humanitarian actors can be observed, there is a strong government influence on the implementation of humanitarian aid, activities of international organisations and the overall refugee response. The results also show that the methods of humanitarian assistance have changed considerably over the studies period, with a significant difference between assistance provided outside and inside refugee camps. Beyond reviewing the essential international literature, the examination of this issue is principally based on data analysis of the reports of relevant international organisations, as well as anonym in-depth interviews with experts from the field.
